The most amazing part about sieglind, is that she is not undead. Sunbro became undead to come to Lordran. But Sieglind, the worldst biggest bad ass, came there human. She never died, flaweless victory.
Not only that, she went down through Blight Town, then down the Great Hollow and then back again without dying or estus. We are talking some of the most dangerous places in Lordran here and she did it flawlessly. And, after that, she also fought against her hollowed father and won. She is indeed the most badass character in the game.
Give Nito a break. He's been dead a *really* long time, and dead people tend to not do very much. Honestly, considering his age and condition, he's quite active.
A friend once asked me "Yeah, but what do you do when you finish Dark Souls?" My reply... "Play more Dark Souls." I feel like Dan could say the same today.
Dan looks back over his Dark Souls journey as the Chosen Undead, Elise. He summarizes the lore of the game and backstory of the characters he encountered in his playthrough for Side Quest.
+Extra Play You're one of us now, Dan. I tend to think of the souls series and their approach to story telling as Archaeology, You're digging around bits and pieces of an ancient civilization and pieacing the pieces as you go. It almost becomes its own game in and of itself. Looking forward for you to see the remaining games, see where Dark Souls 2 fell flat, and just be confused at the layers we're unravelling in DS3.
+Oliver Misbach It's really not. The director has even said multiple times the difficulty was never really a point for its own sake, it was just to make the player feel accomplished and to enhance the experience. There are a lot of bosses in the game that aren't necessarily that hard, like Sif or Gwyn, but that are great because of how memorable they are, from their visual designs, the lore behind them, the arena, their music, etc. For me it's a mix of the gameplay, the setting, the lore/characters, the art direction, and the great songs, which makes for a really memorable experience rich in atmosphere.
+Oliver Misbach Honestly Difficulty might be my least favourite thing about the games (even though I can only really speak for DS3 as I haven't played the others yet). So many people, especially on the subreddit, complain about "playing the wrong way" because you summon people for boss fights, but they apparently forget about the whole lore aspect of the game. (seriously. If they turned the franchise into a movie or a series I'd watch it)
@Dazidan it's kind of interesting reading this three years later lol. Ds3 turns out to be the easiest of all From games, except Sekiro, which is literally a cakewalk once u learn the mechanics. But your analysis is spot on, I just strongly disagree with the opinion that Ds3 is the hardest. I'd say BB is probably the hardest. If you level well, i.e overleveled: it goes Ds3>Ds2>Ds1>BB. If you go SL1 (or BL4 for BB) it goes Ds3>Ds1>BB>Ds2. But everyone had their own playstyle and struggles. Ds3 is only hard if you're used to relying on your shield all the time, because it does not allow for that lol. But as you said, difficulty is only a tiny part of the experience, and it's only for the accomplishment you feel. Well said sir
No Dan, thank YOU. That was an incredible journey. This is now my favourite playthrough of DS1 for many many reasons. I cant wait for you to continue your Souls exploration
+i,310 I wish to report a bug. I am unable to thumbs-up this comment more than once. Clearly, this is a deficiency in the system, as this clearly deserves the entire internet's worth.
Oh dear Dan, you _still_ didn't grasp what happened to Rhea... she's still down there in the dark! Waiting for you to tell her that you defeated the hollow Vince and Nico and it's safe for her to escape! You just couldn't find her because you were too busy complaining about the dark instead of using your Skull Lantern!
A very good summary in general and even more so a retrospective on your play through specifically. There wasn't anything new for me personally to learn here, but it was without doubt fun to remains and remind my self f the journey you shared with us as well as your thoughts in the aftermath. However, as a point you didn't touch on, Ornstien and Smough. You questioned if either of them knew they were guarding an illusion, but I'd question if either of them were even real either. So many of the other enemies in Anor Londo are fake, so why should these two be any different? More specifically, as you mention, Ornstein was supposedly among those gifted with a piece of Gwyn's soul, and yet unlike the Four Kings or Seath, it's not used to feed the Lord Vessel. Something else you sort of missed, there is in fact a fourth Fire Keeper, the dragon of Ash Lake. Or at least presumably so as just like the other three, the Bonfire that dragon watches over is automatically pre-kindled. Unfortunately there's really not much more to be certain of on the matter since the game doesn't offer any lore explaining this, though the implications of one of the ancient dragons, possibly the last, being a fire keeper could lead to a lot of speculation on the nature of the bonfires.
Dan, I just wanted to thank you for this playthrough. I watched the opening episodes with James, eventually got bored, and came back much later when you were on your own, around Seath's Fortress I think. Since then It's been a part I look forward too in my week. Honestly, on the days it was uploaded, it was how I unwound after work and relaxed. Your positive vibe, humor and true love of the game set this series apart. I think one of your greatest strengths as a Let's Player is that you sincerely love games, and you have a sense of detail and appreciation that I rarely see in these sorts of playthroughs. (Plus, your music montages were epic, more of those in the future?)I can't wait till you start Dark Souls 2 and watching you connect the lore and talk about the designs. Till next time!
Dan, you are one of the best Let's Players I have ever seen, though I know that there are plenty who would probably disagree with me. I look forward to every post of yours though, and felt tears at the edges of my eyes as you wrapped this up, because this was our journey it felt like, and I would love to join you for the next one.
+Jumbled ThoughtBrony I'm both looking forward to his next regular LP, and to what he does with his LPs after he's finished doing LPs of DS (Weather he goes with various Souls-likes - I'd be interested to see his take on Dark Maus, for example, which is a top down souls-like with mice - or onto other stuff.)
Second laziest? Seriously, Nito chilled in his tomb since the dawn of the Age of Fire. Sans at least goes out for walks and joking. This guy slept over the slow dying of the Fire! Damn, he's number one when it comes to laziness xD
This is a really excellent recap - there are certain questions you ask here that are actually answered in some form or another, but that's the beauty of this game - like mastering the combat, coming to these conclusions on your own feels incredibly triumphant. immensely looking forward to future playthroughs of this and other FromSoft games.
I really like the theory that one of the deities, possibly with Nito's or Seath's help, created the undead curse specifically to force humans to feed humanity to the fire to retain their minds and compete with each other over souls to become stronger. This would produce a neverending stream of potential 'chosen undead' that could be tricked into 'succeeding Gwyn'. No matter how many times they fail, the strongest and most determined would ultimately end up at the Kiln, just as Gwyndolyn and Frampt intended. There is also nothing to suggest that your soul (or any soul) is really enough, and the undead curse guarantees that whether you link the fire or not, there will always be undead that will die over and over until they are either hollowed, or end up at the Kiln to 'undo the curse' (and die for good). Undead really have no other choice but to literally burn their humanity or go hollow.
Ds3 would be interesting but i really think Ds2 should be next, even though it is the inferior game it does have a lot of references in Ds3 that would be lost on Dan
Man, I can't wait either! I got so excited when he said that! I also think DS2 would be appropriate. Him doing DS1 just before three proves that time has no bearing on the relevance of the pkaythrough. Also, I feel the time it will take him to get through 2 will give the community the opportunity to really dig through the lore in 3. This, in turn, will give him more fuel for a retrospective video such as this.
One of my theories is that the curse of undeath has been a consequence of Gwyn, who not only linked himself to the fire, but also humanity to continuosly feed it..some people also add to it that Gwyn himself (like Nito, the queen of Izalith and the Pigmy) was, afterall, a human (or a "hollow" to be precise) at it's base, who only became a god because he's one of the few who found one of the souls of lords...which would make sense with the first point, because therefore, by linking himself to the fire, he would have automatically also linked the rest of mankind.. afterall, in the world of dark souls apparently, men are simply "hollows" with a part of the dark soul in themself, which the furtive pigmy divided in practically infinite parts.. but i'm not 100% sure about this, it's one of these things that are up to speculation.. however it can't be a coincidence that the curse appeared only after Gwyn's linking, which was infact the first linking of the fire of all the eras we know up until now (Lordran, Drangleic and Lothric) Humans, since then, became even more attracted to the fire, and even learned how to manipulate the flame that resides within them through the pyromancies that Izalith discovered (which are NOT the same as the sorceries of fire we see in the intro) That's why the Darkwraiths steal humanity, because that's the only way to deprive the fire of one of it's fuels...plus a lot of humanity is disperded upon death..one proof of this is that, when using the hand of the darkwraiths, we can collect much more humanity than by simply killing the other humans we meet. That is also why the dark sign is a ring of fire, it's the primordial call to return to it, consuming all the humanity we have. That would also adhere to the theory that says that the legend of the "chosen undead" is simply a story divulgated by the church of Gwyn (the way of white) to manipulate an undead in a quest to re-link the fire, prolongin the age of the gods and let the "age of men" (as Kaathe says) wait a bit more.. we also know, from an item description, that the way of white created the first undead, and they constantly look for the "rite of kindleing", which would allow even more humanity to reinforce bonfires. And at least..maybe hollowness is the real state of humanity, since before the progenitor of humanity found the Dark soul in the first flame, they appeared to be simply that...hollows, habitating the dark. PS: Unfortunately the way it ends of Siegmeyer's daughter is all but happy : |
If you do a Side Quest through Dark Souls 2 then I suggest Scholar of the First Sin edition, not only is it better but it fixes certain story oddity's in the original as well as adds more story/lore.
It would have been cool to have some of the final episodes with James sitting in as co pilot once more. I understand this probably wasn't possible but i think it would have given it a nice bookends feel to it.
Since we're doing ds lore anyway, in the scholar of the first sin, the updated version of ds2 we learn that not only did gywn link the first flame with his own soul, but that he had linked his soul with humanity, the very essence of the dark soul. Gywn did this because he feared the age of dark that would come should linking his soul to the first flame fail and so he linked humanity to his soul, in order for humans be perpetually torn between keeping the first flame lit and achieving their true destiny of the age of dark. This duality of humans torn between the light and dark is what causes the cycle of dark souls series, and may be the very thing that causes the undead curse. Which would make sense since hollows and their ilk seem to be the true form of humans without their humanity, which is something linked to both dark and fire. The reason it's the scholar of the "first sin" is because gywn's linking of humanity to the first flame via his soul is the first sin, forever damning humanity in this endless cycle of fire dying out to give way to dark before eventually being rekindled by a chosen undead. Robbing humans from having both a perpetual age of fire, or fulfilling their destiny of a perpetual age of dark. Of course this is just my interpretation of Scholar of the first Sin but it is the one that seems to make the most sense.
Extremely well done. As an avid follower of the games, I did indeed not learn anything new and at some places felt you could have complemented a little bit more, but overall this was of a much higher quality than I ever expected. My utmost respect for you, Dan.
It's also worth noting that Havel's occult club was hidden inside a mimic. Clearly he didn't want anyone to find it, so he stored it in a trapped chest so nobody could stop what he was doing.
I don't know how much lore you've been reading up on in the last 7 months, but: _"Seriously, though, what is up with the snake feet"_ One of the theories that I really like is that the fading of the First Flame meant that the Lords were weakening, and their children being born deformed. Both Gwyndolin and Ceaseless Discharge are the youngest of their families, and both are deformed in some way. Ceaseless Discharge was born with sores inflamed by lava (despite being the son of a Pyromancer Lord), while Gwyndolin was both born with an affinity for the Moon in the family of Sunbros (which is what lead to him being raised as a daughter) and also the snake legs. Of course, this is one of those things that isn't really mentioned anywhere in game. Also according to this Design Works interview, Gwyndolin's skirt is supposed to represent menstruation and his head was accidentally made a little too large and Miyazaki thought it made him look like a little girl so they kept it.
ihave a weird theory regarding the snake feet. a long one, brace yourself. I believe Yorshka is Priscilla, she escaped the painted world when it was detroyed and took the name of Yorshka under Gwyndolin's care. And I believe that Yorshka is the daughter of Seath and Gwyndolin. yes i know Gwyndolin is a male god and Seath probably an asexual Dragon, but please bear with me. 1. while still seaching for immortality, Seath try the mortals way of immortality, having an heir, making sure your genes survive through your child. so he experimented many human maidens to accommplish this, he kidnapped a lot of human maidens, then he experimented on them, he created the sirens in order to make them more dragon/snake than human for them to carry his children. but these experiments failed due to their weak body wouln't survive the transformation. 2. Having failed on human maidens, Seath set his eyes on Female God. Seath mistook Gwyndolin for a Female God bcause he was raised as daughter, Seath then took Gwyndolin to his archives. 3. Both seath and Gwyndolin has affinity to the moon, this makes their bond even stronger, even Seath created moonlight butterfly that has the same song as Gwyndolin. 4. Seath surprised to see Gwyndolin's dong underneath his skirt, so Seath perform operation to alters Gwyndolin's lower body, including his legs to a snake like shape. remember snake=imperfect dragon. maybe he also used the reversal ring for Gwyndolin to "perform female function" (carry a baby perhaps). after that, Seath inject his genetic material into Gwyndolin, then Priscilla was born. This explain why Priscilla/Yorshka didn't inherit the name GWYN, like GWYNevere and GWYNdolin. 5. Gwyn found out about this crosbreed abomination, He throw the child into the painted world, and maybe he disown Gwyndolin, because we see no statue of Gwyndolin ever built in anor londo. 6. Dark souls 1 happened. 7. Many moons paseed, as Priscilla grew older, her appearance slowly became more dragonic. As times passed she even forgot her own name. 8. Anor Londo collapsed. Somehow Priscilla managed to escape the painted world. She then met Gwyndolin, who lied about who he is, perhaps because of guilt and shame. He told him that they were both Gwyn's child, he also gave her a new name, Yorshka. Together they led the blademoons for some time. 9. Aldrich and Sullivan came. Sullivan captured Gwyndolin and fed him to Aldrich. While Yorshka was imprisoned by Sullivahn, the next in line to be fed to Aldrich after he finished his big meal. 10. As Gwyndolin being devoured alive slowly by Aldrich, he's thinking about his only family left, his child, Yorshka. They were both banished from the world, unwanted by Gwyn, surviving alone in their own world. When they met, they have a strong connection, they clearly love each other. This strong bond between them makes Aldrich dreams about Yorshka as he eats away Gwyndoli , making us be able to transpose magic version of Priscilla's Scythe using his soul. i really like the idea that seath tried the mortals way of immortality: having children, a successor to your gene. in a way, he'll live on through his genes. this is why we see seath kidnapping girls, and turning them into a snake (imperfect dragon). for what purpose did he do this experiment other than for them to pass on his genes?
OR, this is another theory of mine pris/yorshka and gwyndolin are the child of velka-seath. and velka was the wife of gwyn seath while searching for immortality tries the mortal way of immortality, having an heir, making sure your genes survived. this is why we see seath kidnapped maidens, turns them into a siren (snake: imperfect dragon) because he wants to pass his genes to them. but he failed because human maiden have frail body. so he turned into the goddess for his plan. seath approaches velka then then they hump. gwyndolin was born (gwyndolin and seath relation: snake-dragon feet, moon magic, moon blade, moon butterfly) at first gwyn didn't realised that gwyndolin wasn't his, so he named gwyndolin after his name (gwyn, gwynevere), but then velka was being naughty again and priscilla was born. gwyn was not fooled again this time, so he banished velka priscilla and hid/shunned gwyndolin for his heritage. gwyn sacrificed himself, gwyndolin still loving his father gwyn, sit right by his tomb, guarding it, while execute a plan with frampt to search for a successor to the flame. as ages passed priscilla grown more and more draconic in appearance, she also forgots her own name. when anor londo was destroyed, she get out of the painting, confused, not even remembers her name. gwyndolin found her, recognised her as her sister, named her yorshka. together they lead the darkmoon blade until sullivahn came. aldrich eats gwyndolin. while being eaten he remembers his sister yorshka/priscilla, making aldrich dreams about her and able to use her scythe (as magic not a physical weapon, unlike his bow) velka hated the gods after she was banished, met kaathe. she brings undeads from asylum to either help her son gwyndolin or to bring an end to the age of gods. after ages past, she found the curch of londor ... i strongly believe that gwyndolin is the child of gwyn's wife (whoever it is) and seath. the moon magic, moon weapon, the song, snake feet, pale white skin, there's just too much connection. that's why he was disowned by gwyn. and since we found velka's trace all over the painted world (the crow men, velka's statue), i believe that she is priscilla's mother. that's why i also believe she is gwyndolin's mother, and gwyn's wife
Archontasius Perhaps, Priscilla was the only one who could turn fully invisible on top of having life hunt. any connection to that invisible infant Oocilice... Oocilite...? ...that baby you hear crying while supposedly being held by that mad dragon in the garden of Lothric. also I stumbled upon an epiphany in the Painted world of Arindel. When you rescue that painter npc (can't remember her name) who is later found in the loft above Lady Friede, There was some references to her restoring the Painted World. yet this refrence was hinted at being before the creation of Arindel, meaning is was referring to the Original Painted world. is it entirely possible that Crossbreed Priscilla remains intact and hidden from Aldrich all this time? the speculations created by the Souls series is actually profound, I've never had to assume so much off of so little information. ...and the music is absolutely incredible. Hands down the best soundtrack from any movie or game... ...except maybe Martin O'Donnell
Archontasius Perhaps, Priscilla was the only one who could turn fully invisible on top of having life hunt. any connection to that invisible infant Oocilice... Oocilite...? ...that baby you hear crying while supposedly being held by that mad dragon in the garden of Lothric. also I stumbled upon an epiphany in the Painted world of Arindel. When you rescue that painter npc (can't remember her name) who is later found in the loft above Lady Friede, There was some references to her restoring the Painted World. yet this refrence was hinted at being before the creation of Arindel, meaning is was referring to the Original Painted world. is it entirely possible that Crossbreed Priscilla remains intact and hidden from Aldrich all this time? the speculations created by the Souls series is actually profound, I've never had to assume so much off of so little information. ...and the music is absolutely incredible. Hands down the best soundtrack from any movie or game... ...except maybe Martin O'Donnell
Truly, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for this. It was wonderful to see this from "un-sullen eyes" and to hear the joy of the experience that you've had, even in such an oppressive game.
+Huke Chong I know and SPOILER! Everything points to him being alive WHILE you're fighting Aldrich. From Aldrich supposed to be in Cathedral but leaving right before you arrive, to him prefering to eat his meals alive, to it being Gwyndolin's theme that plays during the bossfight..... That was a mercy kill and a half.....
Firstly, thank you for this, you've made one of the most enjoyable series I've watched and all your videos where and on extra credits have been really interesting. So thanks for all the great times you and everyone else there have given people. Pretty sure I speak for many people saying we would love to watch you play the second, and maybe even demon souls as well. You picked up why people love the game perfectly, and you played very well for a first run. Looking forward to many more hours in the future, whatever you bring out.
I've done a lot of research myself into the fascinating lore of the Souls games, and as someone who considers himself pretty knowledgeable of the general mythos, you still raise questions and make points here and there that are new to me! A wonderful recap of the lore of the game, told in a really easily followed fashion with excellent ties to your own personal playthrough. Told myself I'd watch a few minutes and finish the rest later, before realizing I'd sat through the whole dang thing. Great work, Dan.
I see all that Extra History storytelling experience is being put to good use :-) Also, if I can go on a brief tangent: you had two music montages during boss battles, and they were *excellent!* The pace of the music was matched nicely to the attacks and edits of the battle, and there was a great moment during the Artorias fight where the music slowed down for a while during a lull in combat, where you allowed some of your thoughts on the fight to shine through. I'd love to see more of it in DS2!
I was also intimidated by this game but my brother got me into it and I fell in love with it as you have. Always nice to see more people enjoy this wonderful title. Thank you for this small lore guide!
a seemingly small thing, but i so appreciate you referring to gwyndolin as "they/their" than with masculine descriptors. other lore collectors seem tone deaf on this distinction; you are the only person i am aware of that is aware of it great work as always, and i am looking forward to more from you!
+Brandon Reinert I was wondering about that, too. I'm not really up to date with what the current fandom interpretation of Gwyndolin's gender was, but doesn't the Darkmoon Knightess, who is obviously very, very devoted to Gwyndolin, refer to Gwyndolin as male? That would seem to suggest that he/him are the pronouns Gwyndolin uses.
+cvrc11 Gwyndolin is Gwyn's yungest son who was rised as a woman, because he was born with affinity to the moon and magic, which were considered feminine traits by Gods.
+Brandon Reinert I've was thinking the exact same thing! I noticed Dan do that as well and I'm really glad that other people have noticed a gender "disconnect" (for lack of a better word) with this character, because tbh when I was reading lore on Gwyndolin, even though to me it was clear that this character was trans coded no one else seemed to notice it and in fact came across very transphobic in their discussion of them tbh.
This was a pretty artful wrap up. Dan's analytical eye really brought a fresh take to a blind Dark Souls playthrough, and I so love him coming back as familiar with the lore as those of us watching.
I didn't know where to do it but it seems to be the perfect place so here i go: This is a message for James and Dan! I vaguely knew Dark Souls as i saw some youtubers playing it and when you started playing it i was just thinking "yeah, this game again, not interested". I started watching your videos with James and Dan on it anyway and i eventually found interest in the game as you analysed so much of the mechanics at work in this game (to be honest i started watching it because i trusted you had something worthy to say about this game and that it might change my point of view on it). Then i started thinking about it every now and then, about what happened in the latest episode, about the connexions between the characters you met and so on. By the time Dan continued the series alone i already bought the game and tried my best, hardly following you on the main story quests. And then i completed the game quite at the same time i watched the series and it felt so great playing the same game and seeing all the different choices we made at the same time. You guys made me want to look into this game and i loved it from the start to the end. You made me love that game and i am so very grateful for it, without your videos on it i might have just walked passed it and never actually know anything about it. I really hope you get to read that and i also hope that you'll do that "Dan Sucks at Dark Souls II too" series, i'd love to see that and eventually buy the game and live this experience with you too! ;)
So glad someone found the reason why Dark Souls is such a great game again. Most fans I talk to, have... lost their humanity if you would. Only going on about the game play and how the story is meaningless when compared to it. When if not for the story, there would be no dark souls. Many seem to have forgotten that.
+Mai Ostergod When we first played Dark Souls in 2011, the majority of us put 100 hours into the game, or perhaps more for some, before we realized it had a story. That's right, we purchased the game thinking it had no story. So I'm really not sure what you mean by ''When if not for the story, there would be no dark souls.'' No, if it had no gameplay, and had no challenge(since this is what attracted us to it in the first place), THEN there would be no Dark Souls and by the same token, there would have been no word of mouth around Demons Souls, and so Demon's Souls would have never of made it out of Japan and we would have no Souls series period.
Is there is no gameplay there is no game. There are a few games of late that mimic the feel of 'souls' games, Salt and sanctuary is one of the first things that come to mind. No matter how much you like the souls lines of games (even Bloodborne), if you take apart the game play to the very nuts and bolts of it, it's not that great. If everything even you, died in a single hit, or the extreme opposite, took hundreds of hits. The game play would be very repetitive. The only reason it's not, is because of how fast the battles are, and the level deign. No, even when you first picked up the game. Demon's Souls. It oozed the underline plot of "What happened?" and "Why did it happen?". Yes, not every person may of been interested. But, from the very first time choice of my game, did not select to go to nexus, was interested in what that meant. (Granted my question was answered in a few minutes. But I was taken in by the under line story.) Just like in Dark Souls one, when that body fell down with the key to the cell, I asked why. I've always been into Dark Souls lore and story far more then it's gameplay. I did a fist fight at level 30~40. We had our armor but we used only fists. We did 2 damage... 3 if we are lucky and only 5 on a back stab. Yes, that sounds stupid and boring. And... it was. But it was your combat, timed attacked, and rolls, jumping heavy attacks and blocking. But it took ages to do. Even assuming max HP to only be 500. That is still roughly 250 punches, unless you healed and we did. Hours when by, and combat was so dull and boring, I came to realize... No matter the monster, it's weapons, the attacks. Unless it grabbed you... You did almost the same exact thing on your defined character. Why? Because it worked for almost everything against a single monster. If their was no atmosphere, no undertone story, no real story. All you would have is an awful hack and slash, with broken and meaningless humanity system that ultimately did nothing for you. (for Dark Souls 1.) As for the challenge that drew us to these games, did it though? Demon's Souls is all but forgotten, and was panned by some for it the unfair game play. Dark Souls 1 was only taken in by a small group of people, The majority moved on only those who saw past the challenge and saw it's lore and story stayed. Dark Souls 2, was hyped and pushed past the darkness that hid Dark Souls 1 from the main stream, yet was disliked by some, for it's challenge, disliked for the lack of story by others and not understood by many. But was accepted as a 'hard game that will get you killed but can be beaten if you try hard enough', and Bloodborne? Cheered for only being only hard, I hear nothing about it's story. Dark Souls 3? You mean the triple A hyped game that do not get me wrong, deserves it; but is only hyped up for it being hard and not because of it's undertone, it's story and the lore. And most users going into it now, have no idea of the story of 1. As I said, it is nice to see someone who found the reason why Dark Souls is enjoyed. I am sorry if I am bashing the gameplay. It is just as needed as story. However Dark Souls. Needs both, and out side of 2, it has both. And if you can ignore one and have fun, that is great. There is something for everyone; but you lose half the game and the experience. I found most of the NPC's dialog in Dark Souls 1 my first time, did I understand it? Not all of it. No, but it was my desire to learn it, kept me there for weeks, looking and roaming, until finally there was enough guide info to aid me. Maybe I still don't understand it all, maybe none of us do. But I know how I felt, and fell in love with the NPCs their stories and dialog. I can go on for hours about my time in Dark Souls 1. I remember ever detail, and feeling as I went on. Six years is a long time, and I hope to never forget, what made Dark souls a good game, past that so called challenge.
Mai Ostergod I strongle disagree, the gameplay is fantastic. Sure, you can choose to fight with your fists, but if you don't have fun doing that, then who's *really* to blame here? NO other game or series has the level of boss fights that the Souls games have. Especially the Knight fights, like Artorias. And the equivalent thing in Bloodborne would be Lady Maria and Gherman. Demons Souls has the False King and the Flamelurker, which I consider to be this same type of fight. No other games have fights that are this satisfying. And if you hear nothing about Bloodborne's story, then I don't know what to tell you. But over this past year, I'd wager that I've personally spent over 100 hours(probably way more than that actually lol) interacting with the Bloodborne community and breaking apart its story(which is a story that is actually far more mysterious and cryptic even than Dark Souls). Dark Souls story is actually very, very straight forward in comparison to Bloodborne's story. And also let me just point out that gameplay IS story in these games.
Thank you for not reading my whole post. Yes, the fist fight was pure shenanigans. A joke and for a time I was giggling fool. Yet take the combat to the extreme length. A long drawn battles. It gets boring. I only realized that the fights tend to be the same (PvE) for almost every monster, after that fist fight. And even with the elemental damage and weapon types. For PvE most of it, means nothing. You always end up doing the same things per monster. It only changes if you fight a group of monsters at once. Which if you take your time as the game encourages, that will rarely be the case. I can't say much about bloodborne's story, I have a strong dislike of that game's intro to the point I refuse to play it. If the story is harder to find, could be why I don't hear much of it. As I don't actively look for it's story, making it rare to find someone who can tell me about it. As for the boss fights? Yes, there are more games. Fable 1 had some interesting bosses late game, there are a slue of side strollers that have some of the best boss fights. Metal Gear Solid 5 Phantom pain's Chapter one's boss fight was one of the best I've had this year. Though Dark Souls3 has good bosses none of them reached that level of enjoyment. The first time I fought the Flamelurker is the best boss fight I ever had, with Siv trailing nearby. Then... It declines. The combat is not the games story. It is your story. It is your character's story. I used every type of weapon, spell and item for combat. Though, I don't speak for bloodborne. But PvE combat is very one decimal. PvP is more varied, but also more limited, thanks to balance issues and lag. (and wither or not you seek for it. As a PvE player, I rarely see much PvP action. And yes, I have done PvP. My friend in Dark Souls 3 does a gladiator style thing, where he summons dark spirits and they fight each other, letting him watch. I took part of that. And can go in detail about the rock paper scissors system of weapon types in Dark Souls 3.) In Dark Souls 1, the combat is stiffer slowly, sluggish. If you strip it down, you'll see realize just how dull and boring it is for PvE, if not for the fact of how fast things die. The weapon type is most. "Hit fast and lots. Hit slow but heavy. Fish for backstabs, counter, Two hand for shield break, And wait for opening to attack." The game is in no means bad. But it is basic; and if the rest of the game out side of the gameplay was bad. The game would of been boring. Argue it all you want I have clocked over 1000 hours in Dark Souls 1 on my Ps3. 300~500 on one character. (for 100% file) and in maybe 5 more years. I might have forgotten enough to enjoy exploring it again. The game is great. Monsters are wonderful, levels look grand, the sound track is perfect, the pacing is arguable to be good or bad, depending on the player's skill level. For me it is bad, as I move to fast knowing the traps and monsters a head. The combat is solid. Yes, solid. I know what I have been saying. As apart of the game it works just fight. But if you strip it from the game, it is dull. The physical act of the game telling you how many times you can attack; when for the most part, you can kill everything in a single bar, simply boils down to. "Can I attack? Yes, attack. No, wait. Can I stagger? Yes, never stop attacking, until it dies or I run out of stamina first... which never happens if I am at full. No, attack a few times back off." The limit in how you can attack (which is crippling compared to most games), simply turns it into; "How few monsters can I fight at once; when can I attack, how many times should I attack?" That is it. Given how in the starting guide of Dark Souls 3 (If pre-ordered.) They tell you to bait monsters away to safely fight them. Tells you exactly how formulaic the combat is. Next time you play Dark souls games. Any of them. And do PvE. Honestly, look at exactly what you do, for every monster kill in any given area. And I don't mean a group of them. I mean EVERY SINGLE MOSNTER, you slay. Look at how you did, and why you did it that way, and see if you can find a different way, and no. Not just a new weapon. I mean your control inputs and character movements. Why did you attack then, why did you shield then. Why are you moving backwards, or moving left over right? Why cast a spell at this time? Why roll? You will find your movements very honed for very tailored answer, that doesn't really change between encounters. Most of the time, if you circle, you always move to the right, why? Because that is the shield/off hand. So if they attack, you have a better chance to simply walk around them.(In Dark Souls 3, some monsters actively try to stop that... But only if you move right; Just move left and you can fish back stabs safely.)
+Mai Ostergod Are you kidding me? Dark souls is perfect because if you want to play the game for the game play you get minimum story. If you want to play the game for story figuring out the story becomes a game on its own. Both the complex story and the mysterious story work together to make a great game franchise.
19:50 That description of Blighttown. Perfect. You did forget to mention that it's the place where not even those who were exiled to The Lower Undead Burg didn't want to go to the Depths, and no one there wanted to go to Blighttown. It was so bad that they sealed it with a big fat door.
Wow, I'm speechless. I personally love reading about vague and hidden lore in pretty much every universe I'm interested in. Needless to say, the Souls universe is amazing in this: I remember Miyazaki stating he had that in mind. A world where you had to struggle to put find the pieces, and which required imagination to put together. Even though nearly everything in this video was already known to me, I watched this video with full interest. From the explanation, to your own theorycrafting (to which I say "huh, never thought about it that way. He might be on to something"). This video is, in my eyes, one of the very best overviews I have seen about the game, and serves as a perfect closure to my favourite let's play of this masterpiece. Well done, and I hope to see a lot more Sidequest in the future.
+Eshajori SPOILERS . . . . . He's talking about Aldrich (Dark Souls 3 boss) when you fight against, Gwyndolin is still in the process of being digested by Aldrich.
Hey Dan, I will like to thank you for all the time and patience you put into playing, entertaining us and uploading this series. Man when you guys said you're going to stop doing this series I got so frustrated and sad, really. Thankfully you kept going. It's really nice to see how you transformed into a fan of Dark Souls. I can't wait for more souls videos done by you, and if James got the time it would be nice for him to show up once in a while at these videos. Cheers man. And blightown is the best.
I absolutely loved this playthrough and I have watched every episode the day it was released since the beginning. In a world of let's play videos that garner views witht the use of funny voices and outrageous behavior, Side Quest was a breath a fresh air. It was so much fun to watch you play with the same sense of genuine curiosity and caution that I had when I played. And best of all, you played a character. You based your choices, not on what would net you the most souls or max out your character build, but instead made the choices the your character, Elyse, would make. I can't wait for a Dark Souls 2 Side Quest series. Until then, thank you for the hours of constant entertainment Dan.
This have been the best series I have ever seen in youtube. Somehow, the way Dan looks at the game, with this fascination makes Dark Souls even more appealing. I also like the naively way he plays as if I were playing myself for the first time.
+jzjzbeast Might want to spoiler that...but yeah. **SPOILERS** I'm looking forward to encountering the nameless king in 3, but really that just makes Solaire that much more impressive...especially since the official canon is that he goes on in his own world to link the fire. D.A.M.N. /impressed
*Spoilers* He is an awesome boss but man is he tough. The broken summoning system makes it worse since you can go quite a bit trying to summon people and get the "Unable to Summon" message.
Another really small thing that I love that they put in this game is a tiny little detail in the intro sequence. In the shot of the silver knight preparing to fight a dragon, he is holding his sword in his left hand. Now it just so happens that our old friend Artorias is a southpaw. There isn't a lot that From does on accident, particularly in cutscenes, and coincidence is practically nonexistent in souls games, so The conclusion I draw is that this is Artorias way back in the war with the dragons, when he was still just one of many undistinguished silver knights in Gwyn's army. Perhaps this was the very moment when he distinguished himself, challenging a dragon alone and emerging victorious.
Such a great video. I love the way you spun an overwhelming amount of lore into an easy to understand narrative. I've played through Dark Souls 1 and 2, Bloodborne, and am currently about halfway through Dark Souls 3, ONLY because I began watching this series. So thanks for that. Seriously. Interestingly, I didn't find Gwyndolin in my playthrough. I didn't discover that Gwenevere was an illusion and make darkness fall on Anor Londo. But playing through Dark Souls 3, knowing these things now increases my enjoyment of it, because...SPOILERS! You're gonna love it. :)
Now on wards to DS2:Sotfs and or DS3 side quest. I hope DS3, because it expands the story of DS1 a lot. It gives more depth to the story and basically shoves aside DS2:Sotfs story. If you are going to play DS2:Sotfs first, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you level a stat called "Agility", to 20-25 as fast as you can. I won't say why (nothing story related so don't worry) but as you level it up, you will notice why. Get DS2:SOTFS edition, not DS2 base edition (as I like to call it) since DS2:Sotfs is the definitive version. Keep up the great work to everyone involved, love both Extra Play and Extra Credits.
Notably, snakes are said to be a symbol of the undead in the description of the Covetous Silver/Gold Serpent rings, so that could explain Gwyndolin's leg-snake things. It could symbolize them/him being "above" the undead, which makes sense, given their/his manipulative attitude towards them.
Dear Dan, As I understand it, you intend to Extra Play the Dark Souls games in order; you've finished the first, and you're going to do the second before the third. Do you have plans to play Demon Souls or Bloodborne on this channel? I'm pretty sure you mentioned having played both of those already, but I'm sure a Souls game replay would be equally interesting as a first look. Fewer reactions, yes, but a firmer grasp of the mechanics allowing for more developer-talk about the differences between the games. Sincerely, Tim
+Timothy McLean he really should play 3 while it's fresh, the after release buzz is something you can only experience once and the second game was forgettable at best
Through repeated playthroughs of this game, I came to understand how important to the Dark Souls formula Blightown is, and I came to actually appreciate it a lot more. Especially since I'm a pyromancer and my favourite weapon is the Washing Pole, both reasons to frequent the swamp at the base. Of course some obstacles are important to the place and some are just bullshit. Like the horrible frame rate and the dodgy collision on the floors.
Ya can't really blame Nito for being lazy. I mean death is suppose to be a big nap in the sky, yet here he still is, just a bag of bones. Dudes just tired. New Londo and Oolacile, the first look into what the darkness holds if the fire is left unkindled. Many agree, its pretty bad, pretty bad.
+Steve Peters I agree, although i wonder if he has any past experience with it. I know James is really big demons souls fan(extra credits is actually the first place i saw it).
Lore wise, this is one of the more insanely dense games I've ever scene. There are so many layers that keeps going and you have to keep patiently peeling them away without having any idea what the whole picture is until the end
I binged a bunch of Dark Souls lore videos a few weeks ago just like Dan did, and the thing I love about Dark Souls' lore is that it never loses its emotion. No matter how deeply you delve, the things you find still have a significant impact on how you view the story. Compare that with, for example, FNAF, in which untangling the lore isn't really necessary to appreciate the game, nor does it significantly change your perspective on it.
Soooo.... DarkSouls 2? I mean, take a break and do whatever you want with your free time instead for awhile (Or play through Dark Souls 1 again once or twice to meet the other Serpent and such, whatever you want), but when your curiosity makes you finally jump into Dark Souls 2, we'll watch.
I second this, plus a lore video like this one. I played DS2 all trough along with the dlc's, and boy did I understood nothing about the story. "Something something Giants, something something Throne of Want, something something Last Dragon (which is an odd title considering I saw plenty flying about)" The DlC's short stories I did understood, but I have no clue how they connect with the general Lore. Only thanks to this video I understand what I was doing in Elum Loyce albeit barely (something something eternal chaos, something something because witches).
Second time watching this video. Watching your first playthrough of this game is what made me reconsider my stance on it in the first place. Diving into the lore with the recommended video channels really broadened my understanding of the appeal. And now? Well, I'm not GOOD at the game. I only JUST beat the first(!) Capra demon after twenty tries, my death count is in the 100s, and Darkroot Basin seems hell-bent on making me break a controller. But instead of letting these challenges dissuade or frustrate me, as they would coming from other, lesser games, I am galvanized. Each of my many, MANY deaths gives me a chance to swear, scream, and curse, but then I pick myself up and dive headlong in again. Honestly, thank the Sun for the Drake Sword. I cheesed it off the Hellkite Drake (can't kill it yet because FIRE. EVERYWHERE. ALL OF THE FIRE.), and it's been my best friend going forward. I know eventually it will be insufficient to the task, but for the time being, the whole reason I've been able to progress as far as I have is that beautiful bloody weapon. I even raised my Strength enough, despite starting as a Pyromancer (because, again, ALL OF THE FIRE.), to wield it one-handed so I could also carry a shield. Because this is Dark Souls, and Chosen Undead + Shield = OTP. Thank you again, Dan, for convincing me to change my mind on this engrossing, enraging, enthralling game. I even have Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin, just so I can continue this story after I (eventually) make it through the first. Also, I don't know how, but I WILL find a way to save my Sun Bro first try. PRAISE IT!
I love how you wandered around the Abyss looking for Kaath, haha! If you dont already know this, you can't meet him if you talk to Frampt, and vise versa. You can only meet one of them in a playthrough.
SO will you be going on to 2, or skipping straight to 3? From what I can tell, I don't think 2 and 3 have that much linked together lore-wise, but 1 and 3 have a lot going on together.
+JackgarPrime With some cursory research, it seems that Souls 2 was produced mostly (Namely Hidetaka Miyazaki) without the core souls team, and that during that time (Or at least shortly after) the core team was actually working on Bloodborne. However, the core team returned to work on Dark Souls 3 which might explain the differences between 1&3 vs 2. The story of 2 is almost completely disconnected with Souls 1&3 making little to no mention to the first flame. Personally I would rather he just skip straight to Souls 3 as it's more of a direct sequel, with many recurring characters.
+MineMurphydog Story wise dark souls 2 was only really meant to represent how the cycle never ends, other than that the story was as you say, disconnected from the other souls games. I would play dark souls 2 first just because I enjoyed it, but you know :P
+Nick Marshman I didn't really enjoy it as much as I enjoyed 1 & 3. So I'd like him to skip it for now and come back later for selfish reasons, however I do think it makes sense lorewise for him to play them out of sequence too.
MineMurphydog There's not much reason to avoid 2, other than "oh I didn't like it." Wall of text inc (spoilers on ds2 and minor spoilers for ds3). The story may not have been based on Gwyn and the lords, but it's meant to show the impact of how the cycle never ends. More than that, it's meant to show that whatever choice you have in the end doesn't matter. Whether you link the flame or walk away, someone else will succeed you and take your place. If you didn't know that, you may be wondering "why did my choice in dark souls 1 not impact dark souls 3 at all?" I don't believe it's an easy connection if you just skip two, unless you look up lore instead of playing the game yourself.
Thank you Dan. Seriously. This is my favourite game and its been wonderful to be there through your journey. One thing i was hoping you would touch on, which is my favourite part of the lore and speculation is about Solaire. You can save him. In fact you can bring him into the last battle with Gwyn. Furthering on the point you mentioned, he is likely Gwyns forgotten son. Solaire is looking to become the sun, or just be as lovely incandescent. What if, at the end of the fight with Gwyn, you let him kindle the flame instead. Finally after everything, he becomes the first fire. Everything he has always wanted to be. Someone at last gets a happy ending. This is my head canon now. Then again, maybe he wasn't looking for the Sun, but being cast out he really wanted to be the son (of Gwyn because daddy why???)
I'd love to see more of these kinds of videos from you. Playing through an oblique,lore-heavy game utterly blind,then looking back on it,throwing in your two cents. It's just so... Refreshing.
+zack iron-heart Nah I think Solaire is a man with a dream. He certainly had a very interesting past I am sure of that, but I assume it is his very own. Who knows, maybe he really did belong somewhere among the ranks of the gods, but I do not think he was the firstborn due to... evidence. Don't want to spoil anything for Dan or the others here who haven't played DS3
I was actually in a similar position that you were when I first picked up Dark Souls - all it ever did was frustrate and anger me, and I couldn't understand why anyone wanted to continue running headlong into the brick wall that the game felt like it was. It took a few tries, and almost a year of on-and-off play to finally get through my first playthrough, but after about the halfway point, at about Anor Londo, I was absolutely hooked. It was great watching you play through this, because watching you and your transformation from fear and frustration into adoration and nigh-addiction to the game reminded me so much of my own. Can't wait to see your Dark Souls II run!
This is an EXCELLENT primer. This might be the best condensed single-video overview of the lore of the first game and the universe in general. If I wanted to give a confused person the shortest crash course I could without them having to hunt around, I'd probably link them to this. Well done! And hell yeah, we're interested! Bring on Dark Souls 2: Side Quest Boogaloo!
Boy am I interested. I would really like to see you tackle DS2 or DS3. Especially 3. 2... was an improvement in certain little things and some battle mechanics, and an overall downgrade everywhere else, sadly.
***** 3 was a copy of 3, huh? Interesting. I wonder how that happened. 3 does include all the little quality of life improvements of 2 and the increased framerate which helps the combat feel a lot more fluid. It brings the kick back, which is a hell of a lot better than DS2's awkward guard break, and improves on parries: not so lenient as DS1, but not as ridiculous as DS2, where every parry had to be, essentially, a hard read. Also, weapon arts are a great addition to the combat, too. I love some of them. Now, if you actually meant DS3 is a copy of 1, then I'd love to see what version of 1 you played.
***** Alright, I get it. You like Demon's Souls. Geez, you're like the genwunners of Souls... Also, dual wielding is there for weapons that make sense for it, ascetics were far too easy to abuse, and the netcode is just as bad as it has EVER been. The poise thing does kinda suck, but then again, it was broken anyway. In DS2 you were either a Havel scrub, or you got wrecked by straight swords at the smallest mistake. And you can't be serious about Black Gulch being a good area...
+Andrés Cifuentes Dark souls 3 is much too linear compared to the previous games, it doesn't set up enough new world building instead choosing to constantly reference Dark Souls 1 as much as possible. This extends to the equipment, npcs and even areas giving the entire game a derivative feel. The Bloodborne combat speed and lack of poise outside ultra armour from great weapon swings means the best way to avoid taking damage is to constantly R1 spam to stagger lock enemies to death. The speed increase has also meant the end of thinking when you roll, the stamina consumed from rolling is so low where before you would roll once then try to counter now you can get away with rolling twice or three times no problem. The pace is faster but it's much more autopilot. The covenants are a massive step back from Dark Souls 2 where before the bell or rat covenants worked immediately now you can sit around Farron Keep all day without the wolf covenant doing anything. The new mound maker covenant relies on your opponent to not knowing what the purple sign means because after their first encounter they aren't using it again. There's no covenant of champions for people who want a tougher experience and there are no pvp arenas. We do however get the darkmoon blades and the blue sentinels doing the same thing at the same time. While we now have a full red eye orb Miyazaki has ordained using one means being pulled into the world of a player using summons so you're just walking into gank squads all day. The level design is much better (outside consumed king's garden and profaned capital) however they don't link together like a metroidvania instead you're always pushing forward from one to the next just like Dark Souls 2 with all those shortcuts going abandoned once you reach the next bonfire. While Dark souls 2 at least had a lot of content to make up for this, Dark Souls 3 is much shorter. The bosses are fun though, can't criticise From for that.
hurrdurrmurrgurr sadly that's a pretty good synopsis of ds3 .. what on earth was Myazaki thinking making the game so linear and speeding up combat to the point that its so focused on rolls and r1 spam? I still love the atmosphere and lore of the game though. Gameplay is good too but that r1 spam and lack of deliverate use of blocking hurts.
I'm very happy with the idea that I've been here to enjoy, endure and challenge the world of Dark Souls with you Dan. It's been a neat trip and I've learned a lot through my time with this game with you.
Like Dan, Dark Souls intimidated me and I never attempted it. After seeing the first few videos here though, I finally gave it a try and absolutely loved it. Very satisfying once you get over the initial difficulty. And it's a lot of fun to analyse the game design and narrative where you can really appreciate the work that went into making it great. Good job on the series Dan. I hope you make more.
You should jump right into Dark Souls 3, as the story continues the one you just finished. Then go to Dark Souls 2, which kinda sorta maybe explains some things about the universe.
Dan, having seen you play Dark Souls was great. I actually played it alongside you, due to me, for a long long time, not listening to my friends. I was always about an episode ahead of you and it was so much fun to see if you'd choose another path. I really look forward to Dark Souls 2 and 3. I just recently finished the second part, and I guess until I finish the third, it will take a long time, since i only have time to play one day per week due to my son. Thank you a lot.
Great video Dan, yes a fair number of us already knew all of this and more, but you said it well and its good to be reminded where you stand as we join you in dark souls 2 (since obviously there are 2 more games filled with information to illuminate/obscure some of these things). Congratulations on a successful dark souls run, I look forward to seeing how you approach the next two games in the series now that you know more about how the games work and the lore involved.
I loved this. I followed your entire playthrough of this game and, as an avid Dark Souls fan, I'd love to see you continue your journey. Having played the first game to death, finishing the second one twice and currently on my way to complete the third installment, I love to see how people react to and interpret what these games have to offer, especially when they're observant and actually *trying* to assemble a "complete" (as complete as can be expected) understanding of the world. I'm by no means a lore expert but piecing together stories such as this is incredibly fun, especially when there's a community of people striving to do the same, leading to shared stories, impressions and theories. Looking forward to whatever more this channel has to offer, especially if it's Dark Souls related. Thank you. (Also, how about switching between holding weapons 1 handed and 2 handed in the middle of combat, huh? It's time to git gud. [I hope you don't think I'm actually criticizing you, I just can't help it. I have to make 'git gud' jokes on occasion.])
With how crisply you are talking in this post-mortem -- and compared to the near-constant frightened timidity of the actual run -- I swear can almost HEAR the signature high-pitched squeak
It's too bad I can only 'like' once. Great video, really glad you did something like this. It's such an awesome thing to see other people share the amazing experience that is Dark Souls as its rich world and deep lore slowly reveal themselves. The growth that the player goes through as they progress is testament to the art form that games can be.
I would have liked more on your personal thoughts/reactions to how things have changed for you after learning the lore. We can already read/view so much pre-existing knowledge on lore already but we watched your Darksouls play through to experience things through your eyes. So awesome of you to post this up though!
I've gotta say, I've loved and played the games for years and watched tons of lore videos but I never appreciated Gwyndolin's role in the story this much until I saw this video. It was awesome watching someone experience Dark Souls for the first time, it reminded me why I love this game so much- thank you :)
Thanks so much for making this video. I already knew most of this, but it's so nice to hear it again from someone who is also not a master of dark souls lore. Most of the videos I watched on the lore even from vaati target an audience of already hardened souls veterans. So I often get lost when it comes in depth analysis and speculation. I always wanted to discuss the lore with someone in person. This was the closest thing to that for me, until now.
The most amazing part about sieglind, is that she is not undead. Sunbro became undead to come to Lordran. But Sieglind, the worldst biggest bad ass, came there human. She never died, flaweless victory.
+12Rman21 Estus is also referred to as "an undead favorite." So she presumably didn't even have any healing items either
Not only that, she went down through Blight Town, then down the Great Hollow and then back again without dying or estus. We are talking some of the most dangerous places in Lordran here and she did it flawlessly. And, after that, she also fought against her hollowed father and won. She is indeed the most badass character in the game.
+TheThunderbirdRising She did only show up after you killed pretty much everything.
+Broderick Siz must be the onion armor
Give Nito a break. He's been dead a *really* long time, and dead people tend to not do very much. Honestly, considering his age and condition, he's quite active.
A friend once asked me "Yeah, but what do you do when you finish Dark Souls?" My reply... "Play more Dark Souls." I feel like Dan could say the same today.
+ThunderJunkOC i just beat dark souls for the second time. next play through, i'm going on a killing spree.
Dan looks back over his Dark Souls journey as the Chosen Undead, Elise. He summarizes the lore of the game and backstory of the characters he encountered in his playthrough for Side Quest.
+Extra Play I'm not here to learn anything. I'm interested 'cause Dan finds it interesting and that makes it interesting to me.
+Extra Play Cant wait for the Dark Souls 2 play through now Dan. Will be nice to see you handle that one compared to the first.
+Extra Play You're one of us now, Dan. I tend to think of the souls series and their approach to story telling as Archaeology, You're digging around bits and pieces of an ancient civilization and pieacing the pieces as you go. It almost becomes its own game in and of itself. Looking forward for you to see the remaining games, see where Dark Souls 2 fell flat, and just be confused at the layers we're unravelling in DS3.
+Extra Play 27:11 Heh. Second laziest skeleton? I see what you did there.
Even though I already know all of this stuff I still love this video. Lol It's a really good summary.
Despite your humility, this is actually the best "dark souls in a nutshell" type video out there. Well done!
I also now understand the appeal. Difficulty is not even the half of it.
+Dazidan After watching this series, I will for sure be playing these games soon... once I find the time that is.
+Oliver Misbach It's really not. The director has even said multiple times the difficulty was never really a point for its own sake, it was just to make the player feel accomplished and to enhance the experience. There are a lot of bosses in the game that aren't necessarily that hard, like Sif or Gwyn, but that are great because of how memorable they are, from their visual designs, the lore behind them, the arena, their music, etc.
For me it's a mix of the gameplay, the setting, the lore/characters, the art direction, and the great songs, which makes for a really memorable experience rich in atmosphere.
+Mokthol If you have a PC to play on you can get them all on steam easily.
+Oliver Misbach Honestly Difficulty might be my least favourite thing about the games (even though I can only really speak for DS3 as I haven't played the others yet). So many people, especially on the subreddit, complain about "playing the wrong way" because you summon people for boss fights, but they apparently forget about the whole lore aspect of the game. (seriously. If they turned the franchise into a movie or a series I'd watch it)
@Dazidan it's kind of interesting reading this three years later lol. Ds3 turns out to be the easiest of all From games, except Sekiro, which is literally a cakewalk once u learn the mechanics. But your analysis is spot on, I just strongly disagree with the opinion that Ds3 is the hardest. I'd say BB is probably the hardest. If you level well, i.e overleveled: it goes Ds3>Ds2>Ds1>BB. If you go SL1 (or BL4 for BB) it goes Ds3>Ds1>BB>Ds2. But everyone had their own playstyle and struggles. Ds3 is only hard if you're used to relying on your shield all the time, because it does not allow for that lol. But as you said, difficulty is only a tiny part of the experience, and it's only for the accomplishment you feel. Well said sir
No Dan, thank YOU. That was an incredible journey. This is now my favourite playthrough of DS1 for many many reasons. I cant wait for you to continue your Souls exploration
I completely agree. Can't wait for more. Dan has been soulified. lol
+i,310 I wish to report a bug. I am unable to thumbs-up this comment more than once. Clearly, this is a deficiency in the system, as this clearly deserves the entire internet's worth.
Oh dear Dan, you _still_ didn't grasp what happened to Rhea... she's still down there in the dark! Waiting for you to tell her that you defeated the hollow Vince and Nico and it's safe for her to escape! You just couldn't find her because you were too busy complaining about the dark instead of using your Skull Lantern!
A very good summary in general and even more so a retrospective on your play through specifically. There wasn't anything new for me personally to learn here, but it was without doubt fun to remains and remind my self f the journey you shared with us as well as your thoughts in the aftermath.
However, as a point you didn't touch on, Ornstien and Smough. You questioned if either of them knew they were guarding an illusion, but I'd question if either of them were even real either. So many of the other enemies in Anor Londo are fake, so why should these two be any different? More specifically, as you mention, Ornstein was supposedly among those gifted with a piece of Gwyn's soul, and yet unlike the Four Kings or Seath, it's not used to feed the Lord Vessel.
Something else you sort of missed, there is in fact a fourth Fire Keeper, the dragon of Ash Lake. Or at least presumably so as just like the other three, the Bonfire that dragon watches over is automatically pre-kindled. Unfortunately there's really not much more to be certain of on the matter since the game doesn't offer any lore explaining this, though the implications of one of the ancient dragons, possibly the last, being a fire keeper could lead to a lot of speculation on the nature of the bonfires.
Dan, I just wanted to thank you for this playthrough. I watched the opening episodes with James, eventually got bored, and came back much later when you were on your own, around Seath's Fortress I think. Since then It's been a part I look forward too in my week. Honestly, on the days it was uploaded, it was how I unwound after work and relaxed. Your positive vibe, humor and true love of the game set this series apart. I think one of your greatest strengths as a Let's Player is that you sincerely love games, and you have a sense of detail and appreciation that I rarely see in these sorts of playthroughs. (Plus, your music montages were epic, more of those in the future?)I can't wait till you start Dark Souls 2 and watching you connect the lore and talk about the designs. Till next time!
Dan, you are one of the best Let's Players I have ever seen, though I know that there are plenty who would probably disagree with me. I look forward to every post of yours though, and felt tears at the edges of my eyes as you wrapped this up, because this was our journey it felt like, and I would love to join you for the next one.
+Jumbled ThoughtBrony I'm both looking forward to his next regular LP, and to what he does with his LPs after he's finished doing LPs of DS (Weather he goes with various Souls-likes - I'd be interested to see his take on Dark Maus, for example, which is a top down souls-like with mice - or onto other stuff.)
"Second laziest skeleton in all of videogames." ; )
+Bear McBear MC only true gamers will understand the ;)
+Bear McBear MC
We see what you did there, Dan.
Bear McBear MC who's the first? sans?
Second laziest? Seriously, Nito chilled in his tomb since the dawn of the Age of Fire. Sans at least goes out for walks and joking. This guy slept over the slow dying of the Fire! Damn, he's number one when it comes to laziness xD
This is a really excellent recap - there are certain questions you ask here that are actually answered in some form or another, but that's the beauty of this game - like mastering the combat, coming to these conclusions on your own feels incredibly triumphant.
immensely looking forward to future playthroughs of this and other FromSoft games.
“It’s not known who is Gwyn’s first born son”
Nameless King: so anyway I start hiding
I really like the theory that one of the deities, possibly with Nito's or Seath's help, created the undead curse specifically to force humans to feed humanity to the fire to retain their minds and compete with each other over souls to become stronger. This would produce a neverending stream of potential 'chosen undead' that could be tricked into 'succeeding Gwyn'. No matter how many times they fail, the strongest and most determined would ultimately end up at the Kiln, just as Gwyndolyn and Frampt intended. There is also nothing to suggest that your soul (or any soul) is really enough, and the undead curse guarantees that whether you link the fire or not, there will always be undead that will die over and over until they are either hollowed, or end up at the Kiln to 'undo the curse' (and die for good). Undead really have no other choice but to literally burn their humanity or go hollow.
pretty sure that the title "First of the Dead" means "First among the dead", meaning that Nito is the greatest of the dead.
+Inferno Cop I'm pretty sure it means both, the first one to die and the "leader" of the "dead".
+Inferno Cop But how can that be if you're Inferno Cop, the justest of the dead?
I can't wait for Dark Souls II - Side Quest :o
+triplehood Me too.
+Colin Gardner same, lots of interesting bits in the DLC
Ds3
Ds3 would be interesting but i really think Ds2 should be next, even though it is the inferior game it does have a lot of references in Ds3 that would be lost on Dan
Man, I can't wait either! I got so excited when he said that!
I also think DS2 would be appropriate. Him doing DS1 just before three proves that time has no bearing on the relevance of the pkaythrough.
Also, I feel the time it will take him to get through 2 will give the community the opportunity to really dig through the lore in 3. This, in turn, will give him more fuel for a retrospective video such as this.
One of my theories is that the curse of undeath has been a consequence of Gwyn, who not only linked himself to the fire, but also humanity to continuosly feed it..some people also add to it that Gwyn himself (like Nito, the queen of Izalith and the Pigmy) was, afterall, a human (or a "hollow" to be precise) at it's base, who only became a god because he's one of the few who found one of the souls of lords...which would make sense with the first point, because therefore, by linking himself to the fire, he would have automatically also linked the rest of mankind..
afterall, in the world of dark souls apparently, men are simply "hollows" with a part of the dark soul in themself, which the furtive pigmy divided in practically infinite parts..
but i'm not 100% sure about this, it's one of these things that are up to speculation..
however it can't be a coincidence that the curse appeared only after Gwyn's linking, which was infact the first linking of the fire of all the eras we know up until now (Lordran, Drangleic and Lothric)
Humans, since then, became even more attracted to the fire, and even learned how to manipulate the flame that resides within them through the pyromancies that Izalith discovered (which are NOT the same as the sorceries of fire we see in the intro)
That's why the Darkwraiths steal humanity, because that's the only way to deprive the fire of one of it's fuels...plus a lot of humanity is disperded upon death..one proof of this is that, when using the hand of the darkwraiths, we can collect much more humanity than by simply killing the other humans we meet.
That is also why the dark sign is a ring of fire, it's the primordial call to return to it, consuming all the humanity we have.
That would also adhere to the theory that says that the legend of the "chosen undead" is simply a story divulgated by the church of Gwyn (the way of white) to manipulate an undead in a quest to re-link the fire, prolongin the age of the gods and let the "age of men" (as Kaathe says) wait a bit more..
we also know, from an item description, that the way of white created the first undead, and they constantly look for the "rite of kindleing", which would allow even more humanity to reinforce bonfires.
And at least..maybe hollowness is the real state of humanity, since before the progenitor of humanity found the Dark soul in the first flame, they appeared to be simply that...hollows, habitating the dark.
PS: Unfortunately the way it ends of Siegmeyer's daughter is all but happy : |
If you do a Side Quest through Dark Souls 2 then I suggest Scholar of the First Sin edition, not only is it better but it fixes certain story oddity's in the original as well as adds more story/lore.
they also fix that durability bug
It would have been cool to have some of the final episodes with James sitting in as co pilot once more. I understand this probably wasn't possible but i think it would have given it a nice bookends feel to it.
"second laziest skeleton", ha, caught that undertale reference
Since we're doing ds lore anyway, in the scholar of the first sin, the updated version of ds2 we learn that not only did gywn link the first flame with his own soul, but that he had linked his soul with humanity, the very essence of the dark soul. Gywn did this because he feared the age of dark that would come should linking his soul to the first flame fail and so he linked humanity to his soul, in order for humans be perpetually torn between keeping the first flame lit and achieving their true destiny of the age of dark. This duality of humans torn between the light and dark is what causes the cycle of dark souls series, and may be the very thing that causes the undead curse. Which would make sense since hollows and their ilk seem to be the true form of humans without their humanity, which is something linked to both dark and fire.
The reason it's the scholar of the "first sin" is because gywn's linking of humanity to the first flame via his soul is the first sin, forever damning humanity in this endless cycle of fire dying out to give way to dark before eventually being rekindled by a chosen undead. Robbing humans from having both a perpetual age of fire, or fulfilling their destiny of a perpetual age of dark.
Of course this is just my interpretation of Scholar of the first Sin but it is the one that seems to make the most sense.
Great video. Welcome to this side of the fence. We're all sunbros here. \\[T]//
indeed.\\[T]//
Extremely well done. As an avid follower of the games, I did indeed not learn anything new and at some places felt you could have complemented a little bit more, but overall this was of a much higher quality than I ever expected. My utmost respect for you, Dan.
The fate of the god of war is discovered in Dark souls 3.
+Marquis Forneus and it was originally suppose to be Andre, but Dan doesnt know that, he has only played the first game silly
It's also worth noting that Havel's occult club was hidden inside a mimic. Clearly he didn't want anyone to find it, so he stored it in a trapped chest so nobody could stop what he was doing.
I don't know how much lore you've been reading up on in the last 7 months, but: _"Seriously, though, what is up with the snake feet"_
One of the theories that I really like is that the fading of the First Flame meant that the Lords were weakening, and their children being born deformed. Both Gwyndolin and Ceaseless Discharge are the youngest of their families, and both are deformed in some way. Ceaseless Discharge was born with sores inflamed by lava (despite being the son of a Pyromancer Lord), while Gwyndolin was both born with an affinity for the Moon in the family of Sunbros (which is what lead to him being raised as a daughter) and also the snake legs.
Of course, this is one of those things that isn't really mentioned anywhere in game. Also according to this Design Works interview, Gwyndolin's skirt is supposed to represent menstruation and his head was accidentally made a little too large and Miyazaki thought it made him look like a little girl so they kept it.
Rory Walker Pretty sure the flame started to dwindle after Gwyndolin was born.
ihave a weird theory regarding the snake feet. a long one, brace yourself.
I believe Yorshka is Priscilla, she escaped the painted world when it was detroyed and took the name of Yorshka under Gwyndolin's care. And I believe that Yorshka is the daughter of Seath and Gwyndolin. yes i know Gwyndolin is a male god and Seath probably an asexual Dragon, but please bear with me.
1. while still seaching for immortality, Seath try the mortals way of immortality, having an heir, making sure your genes survive through your child. so he experimented many human maidens to accommplish this, he kidnapped a lot of human maidens, then he experimented on them, he created the sirens in order to make them more dragon/snake than human for them to carry his children. but these experiments failed due to their weak body wouln't survive the transformation.
2. Having failed on human maidens, Seath set his eyes on Female God. Seath mistook Gwyndolin for a Female God bcause he was raised as daughter, Seath then took Gwyndolin to his archives.
3. Both seath and Gwyndolin has affinity to the moon, this makes their bond even stronger, even Seath created moonlight butterfly that has the same song as Gwyndolin.
4. Seath surprised to see Gwyndolin's dong underneath his skirt, so Seath perform operation to alters Gwyndolin's lower body, including his legs to a snake like shape. remember snake=imperfect dragon. maybe he also used the reversal ring for Gwyndolin to "perform female function" (carry a baby perhaps). after that, Seath inject his genetic material into Gwyndolin, then Priscilla was born.
This explain why Priscilla/Yorshka didn't inherit the name GWYN, like GWYNevere and GWYNdolin.
5. Gwyn found out about this crosbreed abomination, He throw the child into the painted world, and maybe he disown Gwyndolin, because we see no statue of Gwyndolin ever built in anor londo.
6. Dark souls 1 happened.
7. Many moons paseed, as Priscilla grew older, her appearance slowly became more dragonic. As times passed she even forgot her own name.
8. Anor Londo collapsed. Somehow Priscilla managed to escape the painted world. She then met Gwyndolin, who lied about who he is, perhaps because of guilt and shame. He told him that they were both Gwyn's child, he also gave her a new name, Yorshka. Together they led the blademoons for some time.
9. Aldrich and Sullivan came. Sullivan captured Gwyndolin and fed him to Aldrich. While Yorshka was imprisoned by Sullivahn, the next in line to be fed to Aldrich after he finished his big meal.
10. As Gwyndolin being devoured alive slowly by Aldrich, he's thinking about his only family left, his child, Yorshka. They were both banished from the world, unwanted by Gwyn, surviving alone in their own world. When they met, they have a strong connection, they clearly love each other. This strong bond between them makes Aldrich dreams about Yorshka as he eats away Gwyndoli , making us be able to transpose magic version of Priscilla's Scythe using his soul.
i really like the idea that seath tried the mortals way of immortality: having children, a successor to your gene. in a way, he'll live on through his genes. this is why we see seath kidnapping girls, and turning them into a snake (imperfect dragon). for what purpose did he do this experiment other than for them to pass on his genes?
OR, this is another theory of mine
pris/yorshka and gwyndolin are the child of velka-seath. and velka was the wife of gwyn
seath while searching for immortality tries the mortal way of immortality, having an heir, making sure your genes survived. this is why we see seath kidnapped maidens, turns them into a siren (snake: imperfect dragon) because he wants to pass his genes to them. but he failed because human maiden have frail body. so he turned into the goddess for his plan.
seath approaches velka then then they hump. gwyndolin was born (gwyndolin and seath relation: snake-dragon feet, moon magic, moon blade, moon butterfly) at first gwyn didn't realised that gwyndolin wasn't his, so he named gwyndolin after his name (gwyn, gwynevere), but then velka was being naughty again and priscilla was born. gwyn was not fooled again this time, so he banished velka priscilla and hid/shunned gwyndolin for his heritage.
gwyn sacrificed himself, gwyndolin still loving his father gwyn, sit right by his tomb, guarding it, while execute a plan with frampt to search for a successor to the flame.
as ages passed priscilla grown more and more draconic in appearance, she also forgots her own name. when anor londo was destroyed, she get out of the painting, confused, not even remembers her name. gwyndolin found her, recognised her as her sister, named her yorshka. together they lead the darkmoon blade until sullivahn came. aldrich eats gwyndolin. while being eaten he remembers his sister yorshka/priscilla, making aldrich dreams about her and able to use her scythe (as magic not a physical weapon, unlike his bow)
velka hated the gods after she was banished, met kaathe. she brings undeads from asylum to either help her son gwyndolin or to bring an end to the age of gods. after ages past, she found the curch of londor
...
i strongly believe that gwyndolin is the child of gwyn's wife (whoever it is) and seath. the moon magic, moon weapon, the song, snake feet, pale white skin, there's just too much connection. that's why he was disowned by gwyn.
and since we found velka's trace all over the painted world (the crow men, velka's statue), i believe that she is priscilla's mother. that's why i also believe she is gwyndolin's mother, and gwyn's wife
Archontasius Perhaps, Priscilla was the only one who could turn fully invisible on top of having life hunt. any connection to that invisible infant Oocilice... Oocilite...? ...that baby you hear crying while supposedly being held by that mad dragon in the garden of Lothric.
also I stumbled upon an epiphany in the Painted world of Arindel. When you rescue that painter npc (can't remember her name) who is later found in the loft above Lady Friede, There was some references to her restoring the Painted World. yet this refrence was hinted at being before the creation of Arindel, meaning is was referring to the Original Painted world. is it entirely possible that Crossbreed Priscilla remains intact and hidden from Aldrich all this time?
the speculations created by the Souls series is actually profound, I've never had to assume so much off of so little information.
...and the music is absolutely incredible. Hands down the best soundtrack from any movie or game... ...except maybe Martin O'Donnell
Archontasius Perhaps, Priscilla was the only one who could turn fully invisible on top of having life hunt. any connection to that invisible infant Oocilice... Oocilite...? ...that baby you hear crying while supposedly being held by that mad dragon in the garden of Lothric.
also I stumbled upon an epiphany in the Painted world of Arindel. When you rescue that painter npc (can't remember her name) who is later found in the loft above Lady Friede, There was some references to her restoring the Painted World. yet this refrence was hinted at being before the creation of Arindel, meaning is was referring to the Original Painted world. is it entirely possible that Crossbreed Priscilla remains intact and hidden from Aldrich all this time?
the speculations created by the Souls series is actually profound, I've never had to assume so much off of so little information.
...and the music is absolutely incredible. Hands down the best soundtrack from any movie or game... ...except maybe Martin O'Donnell
Truly, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for this. It was wonderful to see this from "un-sullen eyes" and to hear the joy of the experience that you've had, even in such an oppressive game.
Also, if Gwyndolin was your favorite character, Prepare to Cry when you play DkS 3.....
+VernulaUtUmbra Man.. the feels when I first step through the fog gate...
+Huke Chong I know and SPOILER!
Everything points to him being alive WHILE you're fighting Aldrich. From Aldrich supposed to be in Cathedral but leaving right before you arrive, to him prefering to eat his meals alive, to it being Gwyndolin's theme that plays during the bossfight.....
That was a mercy kill and a half.....
Firstly, thank you for this, you've made one of the most enjoyable series I've watched and all your videos where and on extra credits have been really interesting. So thanks for all the great times you and everyone else there have given people.
Pretty sure I speak for many people saying we would love to watch you play the second, and maybe even demon souls as well. You picked up why people love the game perfectly, and you played very well for a first run. Looking forward to many more hours in the future, whatever you bring out.
10:20 _Pretty Tight Lipped_.
About a snake that has no lips. Hmmm, indeed.
I've done a lot of research myself into the fascinating lore of the Souls games, and as someone who considers himself pretty knowledgeable of the general mythos, you still raise questions and make points here and there that are new to me! A wonderful recap of the lore of the game, told in a really easily followed fashion with excellent ties to your own personal playthrough. Told myself I'd watch a few minutes and finish the rest later, before realizing I'd sat through the whole dang thing. Great work, Dan.
"...and second laziest skeleton in videogaming..." I get that refrence.
Dark Souls 3 kind of boots the 'Solaire, son of Gwyn' theory.
Although, the actual identity of Gwyn's firstborn is pretty damn amazing.
I see all that Extra History storytelling experience is being put to good use :-)
Also, if I can go on a brief tangent: you had two music montages during boss battles, and they were *excellent!* The pace of the music was matched nicely to the attacks and edits of the battle, and there was a great moment during the Artorias fight where the music slowed down for a while during a lull in combat, where you allowed some of your thoughts on the fight to shine through. I'd love to see more of it in DS2!
Nito is the Gravelord! :D I don't know what that really means in terms of lore, but his covenant is kickass!
"Second laziest skeleton in all of videogames"
Sans please.
+Justin Mcfield Nah, Sans is too lazy to be "the most" of anything.
TBot Alpha Well played.
Rothur LAZYBONES
I was also intimidated by this game but my brother got me into it and I fell in love with it as you have. Always nice to see more people enjoy this wonderful title. Thank you for this small lore guide!
a seemingly small thing, but i so appreciate you referring to gwyndolin as "they/their" than with masculine descriptors. other lore collectors seem tone deaf on this distinction; you are the only person i am aware of that is aware of it
great work as always, and i am looking forward to more from you!
+Brandon Reinert What's the problem? I'm pretty sure that Gwyndolin is refer to as Gwyn's son. Correct me if I'm wrong.
+Brandon Reinert I was wondering about that, too. I'm not really up to date with what the current fandom interpretation of Gwyndolin's gender was, but doesn't the Darkmoon Knightess, who is obviously very, very devoted to Gwyndolin, refer to Gwyndolin as male? That would seem to suggest that he/him are the pronouns Gwyndolin uses.
+cvrc11 Gwyndolin is Gwyn's yungest son who was rised as a woman, because he was born with affinity to the moon and magic, which were considered feminine traits by Gods.
+Brandon Reinert I've was thinking the exact same thing! I noticed Dan do that as well and I'm really glad that other people have noticed a gender "disconnect" (for lack of a better word) with this character, because tbh when I was reading lore on Gwyndolin, even though to me it was clear that this character was trans coded no one else seemed to notice it and in fact came across very transphobic in their discussion of them tbh.
+Brandon Reinert Thanks! I figured gender neutral was the safe bet since it's never really made clear how the character identifies.
This was a pretty artful wrap up. Dan's analytical eye really brought a fresh take to a blind Dark Souls playthrough, and I so love him coming back as familiar with the lore as those of us watching.
27:14 "...Second laziest skeleton in all of Video Games" *COUGH* Sans *COUGH*
I didn't know where to do it but it seems to be the perfect place so here i go:
This is a message for James and Dan!
I vaguely knew Dark Souls as i saw some youtubers playing it and when you started playing it i was just thinking "yeah, this game again, not interested".
I started watching your videos with James and Dan on it anyway and i eventually found interest in the game as you analysed so much of the mechanics at work in this game (to be honest i started watching it because i trusted you had something worthy to say about this game and that it might change my point of view on it).
Then i started thinking about it every now and then, about what happened in the latest episode, about the connexions between the characters you met and so on.
By the time Dan continued the series alone i already bought the game and tried my best, hardly following you on the main story quests. And then i completed the game quite at the same time i watched the series and it felt so great playing the same game and seeing all the different choices we made at the same time.
You guys made me want to look into this game and i loved it from the start to the end. You made me love that game and i am so very grateful for it, without your videos on it i might have just walked passed it and never actually know anything about it.
I really hope you get to read that and i also hope that you'll do that "Dan Sucks at Dark Souls II too" series, i'd love to see that and eventually buy the game and live this experience with you too! ;)
So glad someone found the reason why Dark Souls is such a great game again. Most fans I talk to, have... lost their humanity if you would. Only going on about the game play and how the story is meaningless when compared to it. When if not for the story, there would be no dark souls. Many seem to have forgotten that.
+Mai Ostergod When we first played Dark Souls in 2011, the majority of us put 100 hours into the game, or perhaps more for some, before we realized it had a story. That's right, we purchased the game thinking it had no story.
So I'm really not sure what you mean by ''When if not for the story, there would be no dark souls.'' No, if it had no gameplay, and had no challenge(since this is what attracted us to it in the first place), THEN there would be no Dark Souls and by the same token, there would have been no word of mouth around Demons Souls, and so Demon's Souls would have never of made it out of Japan and we would have no Souls series period.
Is there is no gameplay there is no game. There are a few games of late that mimic the feel of 'souls' games, Salt and sanctuary is one of the first things that come to mind. No matter how much you like the souls lines of games (even Bloodborne), if you take apart the game play to the very nuts and bolts of it, it's not that great. If everything even you, died in a single hit, or the extreme opposite, took hundreds of hits. The game play would be very repetitive. The only reason it's not, is because of how fast the battles are, and the level deign. No, even when you first picked up the game. Demon's Souls. It oozed the underline plot of "What happened?" and "Why did it happen?". Yes, not every person may of been interested. But, from the very first time choice of my game, did not select to go to nexus, was interested in what that meant. (Granted my question was answered in a few minutes. But I was taken in by the under line story.) Just like in Dark Souls one, when that body fell down with the key to the cell, I asked why. I've always been into Dark Souls lore and story far more then it's gameplay.
I did a fist fight at level 30~40. We had our armor but we used only fists. We did 2 damage... 3 if we are lucky and only 5 on a back stab. Yes, that sounds stupid and boring. And... it was. But it was your combat, timed attacked, and rolls, jumping heavy attacks and blocking. But it took ages to do. Even assuming max HP to only be 500. That is still roughly 250 punches, unless you healed and we did. Hours when by, and combat was so dull and boring, I came to realize... No matter the monster, it's weapons, the attacks. Unless it grabbed you... You did almost the same exact thing on your defined character. Why? Because it worked for almost everything against a single monster.
If their was no atmosphere, no undertone story, no real story. All you would have is an awful hack and slash, with broken and meaningless humanity system that ultimately did nothing for you. (for Dark Souls 1.)
As for the challenge that drew us to these games, did it though? Demon's Souls is all but forgotten, and was panned by some for it the unfair game play. Dark Souls 1 was only taken in by a small group of people, The majority moved on only those who saw past the challenge and saw it's lore and story stayed. Dark Souls 2, was hyped and pushed past the darkness that hid Dark Souls 1 from the main stream, yet was disliked by some, for it's challenge, disliked for the lack of story by others and not understood by many. But was accepted as a 'hard game that will get you killed but can be beaten if you try hard enough', and Bloodborne? Cheered for only being only hard, I hear nothing about it's story. Dark Souls 3? You mean the triple A hyped game that do not get me wrong, deserves it; but is only hyped up for it being hard and not because of it's undertone, it's story and the lore. And most users going into it now, have no idea of the story of 1. As I said, it is nice to see someone who found the reason why Dark Souls is enjoyed.
I am sorry if I am bashing the gameplay. It is just as needed as story. However Dark Souls. Needs both, and out side of 2, it has both. And if you can ignore one and have fun, that is great. There is something for everyone; but you lose half the game and the experience.
I found most of the NPC's dialog in Dark Souls 1 my first time, did I understand it? Not all of it. No, but it was my desire to learn it, kept me there for weeks, looking and roaming, until finally there was enough guide info to aid me. Maybe I still don't understand it all, maybe none of us do. But I know how I felt, and fell in love with the NPCs their stories and dialog. I can go on for hours about my time in Dark Souls 1. I remember ever detail, and feeling as I went on. Six years is a long time, and I hope to never forget, what made Dark souls a good game, past that so called challenge.
Mai Ostergod I strongle disagree, the gameplay is fantastic. Sure, you can choose to fight with your fists, but if you don't have fun doing that, then who's *really* to blame here?
NO other game or series has the level of boss fights that the Souls games have. Especially the Knight fights, like Artorias. And the equivalent thing in Bloodborne would be Lady Maria and Gherman. Demons Souls has the False King and the Flamelurker, which I consider to be this same type of fight. No other games have fights that are this satisfying.
And if you hear nothing about Bloodborne's story, then I don't know what to tell you. But over this past year, I'd wager that I've personally spent over 100 hours(probably way more than that actually lol) interacting with the Bloodborne community and breaking apart its story(which is a story that is actually far more mysterious and cryptic even than Dark Souls).
Dark Souls story is actually very, very straight forward in comparison to Bloodborne's story. And also let me just point out that gameplay IS story in these games.
Thank you for not reading my whole post. Yes, the fist fight was pure shenanigans. A joke and for a time I was giggling fool. Yet take the combat to the extreme length. A long drawn battles. It gets boring. I only realized that the fights tend to be the same (PvE) for almost every monster, after that fist fight. And even with the elemental damage and weapon types. For PvE most of it, means nothing. You always end up doing the same things per monster. It only changes if you fight a group of monsters at once. Which if you take your time as the game encourages, that will rarely be the case.
I can't say much about bloodborne's story, I have a strong dislike of that game's intro to the point I refuse to play it. If the story is harder to find, could be why I don't hear much of it. As I don't actively look for it's story, making it rare to find someone who can tell me about it.
As for the boss fights? Yes, there are more games. Fable 1 had some interesting bosses late game, there are a slue of side strollers that have some of the best boss fights. Metal Gear Solid 5 Phantom pain's Chapter one's boss fight was one of the best I've had this year. Though Dark Souls3 has good bosses none of them reached that level of enjoyment. The first time I fought the Flamelurker is the best boss fight I ever had, with Siv trailing nearby. Then... It declines.
The combat is not the games story. It is your story. It is your character's story. I used every type of weapon, spell and item for combat. Though, I don't speak for bloodborne. But PvE combat is very one decimal. PvP is more varied, but also more limited, thanks to balance issues and lag. (and wither or not you seek for it. As a PvE player, I rarely see much PvP action. And yes, I have done PvP. My friend in Dark Souls 3 does a gladiator style thing, where he summons dark spirits and they fight each other, letting him watch. I took part of that. And can go in detail about the rock paper scissors system of weapon types in Dark Souls 3.)
In Dark Souls 1, the combat is stiffer slowly, sluggish. If you strip it down, you'll see realize just how dull and boring it is for PvE, if not for the fact of how fast things die. The weapon type is most. "Hit fast and lots. Hit slow but heavy. Fish for backstabs, counter, Two hand for shield break, And wait for opening to attack." The game is in no means bad. But it is basic; and if the rest of the game out side of the gameplay was bad. The game would of been boring. Argue it all you want I have clocked over 1000 hours in Dark Souls 1 on my Ps3. 300~500 on one character. (for 100% file) and in maybe 5 more years. I might have forgotten enough to enjoy exploring it again. The game is great. Monsters are wonderful, levels look grand, the sound track is perfect, the pacing is arguable to be good or bad, depending on the player's skill level. For me it is bad, as I move to fast knowing the traps and monsters a head. The combat is solid.
Yes, solid. I know what I have been saying. As apart of the game it works just fight. But if you strip it from the game, it is dull. The physical act of the game telling you how many times you can attack; when for the most part, you can kill everything in a single bar, simply boils down to. "Can I attack? Yes, attack. No, wait. Can I stagger? Yes, never stop attacking, until it dies or I run out of stamina first... which never happens if I am at full. No, attack a few times back off."
The limit in how you can attack (which is crippling compared to most games), simply turns it into; "How few monsters can I fight at once; when can I attack, how many times should I attack?" That is it. Given how in the starting guide of Dark Souls 3 (If pre-ordered.) They tell you to bait monsters away to safely fight them. Tells you exactly how formulaic the combat is. Next time you play Dark souls games. Any of them. And do PvE. Honestly, look at exactly what you do, for every monster kill in any given area. And I don't mean a group of them. I mean EVERY SINGLE MOSNTER, you slay. Look at how you did, and why you did it that way, and see if you can find a different way, and no. Not just a new weapon. I mean your control inputs and character movements.
Why did you attack then, why did you shield then. Why are you moving backwards, or moving left over right? Why cast a spell at this time? Why roll? You will find your movements very honed for very tailored answer, that doesn't really change between encounters. Most of the time, if you circle, you always move to the right, why? Because that is the shield/off hand. So if they attack, you have a better chance to simply walk around them.(In Dark Souls 3, some monsters actively try to stop that... But only if you move right; Just move left and you can fish back stabs safely.)
+Mai Ostergod Are you kidding me? Dark souls is perfect because if you want to play the game for the game play you get minimum story. If you want to play the game for story figuring out the story becomes a game on its own. Both the complex story and the mysterious story work together to make a great game franchise.
19:50 That description of Blighttown. Perfect. You did forget to mention that it's the place where not even those who were exiled to The Lower Undead Burg didn't want to go to the Depths, and no one there wanted to go to Blighttown. It was so bad that they sealed it with a big fat door.
I realize that it would be skipping ahead, but I'd love to see y'all do a series of Dark Souls 3 videos.
I absolutly agree with what you just said :)
Wow, I'm speechless.
I personally love reading about vague and hidden lore in pretty much every universe I'm interested in. Needless to say, the Souls universe is amazing in this: I remember Miyazaki stating he had that in mind. A world where you had to struggle to put find the pieces, and which required imagination to put together.
Even though nearly everything in this video was already known to me, I watched this video with full interest. From the explanation, to your own theorycrafting (to which I say "huh, never thought about it that way. He might be on to something"). This video is, in my eyes, one of the very best overviews I have seen about the game, and serves as a perfect closure to my favourite let's play of this masterpiece.
Well done, and I hope to see a lot more Sidequest in the future.
I'm happy that you're so eager to dig into the lore, but just don't forget that we're sitting here at the sideline, just waiting for the next chapter.
actually this was an incredibly solid overview of the lore of 1
other than not fully explaining how incredibly badass artorias is
Poor gwyndolin being eaten by a big slime thing.
EDIT: SPOILERS BELOW
+APC Urcle Huh?
+Eshajori SPOILERS
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He's talking about Aldrich (Dark Souls 3 boss) when you fight against, Gwyndolin is still in the process of being digested by Aldrich.
Fuck, spoilers! I will try and forget this
Eshajori Sorry about that.
Hen Yong NP, you were just answering my question. I've only played Dark Souls 1 and I've been patiently waiting for the summersale to buy #2
Hey Dan, I will like to thank you for all the time and patience you put into playing, entertaining us and uploading this series. Man when you guys said you're going to stop doing this series I got so frustrated and sad, really. Thankfully you kept going. It's really nice to see how you transformed into a fan of Dark Souls. I can't wait for more souls videos done by you, and if James got the time it would be nice for him to show up once in a while at these videos.
Cheers man. And blightown is the best.
Can't wait for you to start the next one.
I absolutely loved this playthrough and I have watched every episode the day it was released since the beginning. In a world of let's play videos that garner views witht the use of funny voices and outrageous behavior, Side Quest was a breath a fresh air. It was so much fun to watch you play with the same sense of genuine curiosity and caution that I had when I played. And best of all, you played a character. You based your choices, not on what would net you the most souls or max out your character build, but instead made the choices the your character, Elyse, would make. I can't wait for a Dark Souls 2 Side Quest series. Until then, thank you for the hours of constant entertainment Dan.
I want a game with a hug emote. There are so many things in Dark Souls that need a hug.
This have been the best series I have ever seen in youtube. Somehow, the way Dan looks at the game, with this fascination makes Dark Souls even more appealing. I also like the naively way he plays as if I were playing myself for the first time.
Ah the First Born Son of Gwyn. Revealed to be someone else and a really tough cookie.
+jzjzbeast Might want to spoiler that...but yeah.
**SPOILERS**
I'm looking forward to encountering the nameless king in 3, but really that just makes Solaire that much more impressive...especially since the official canon is that he goes on in his own world to link the fire.
D.A.M.N.
/impressed
*Spoilers*
He is an awesome boss but man is he tough. The broken summoning system makes it worse since you can go quite a bit trying to summon people and get the "Unable to Summon" message.
Another really small thing that I love that they put in this game is a tiny little detail in the intro sequence. In the shot of the silver knight preparing to fight a dragon, he is holding his sword in his left hand. Now it just so happens that our old friend Artorias is a southpaw. There isn't a lot that From does on accident, particularly in cutscenes, and coincidence is practically nonexistent in souls games, so The conclusion I draw is that this is Artorias way back in the war with the dragons, when he was still just one of many undistinguished silver knights in Gwyn's army. Perhaps this was the very moment when he distinguished himself, challenging a dragon alone and emerging victorious.
+Pyrolion09 Oooooh !
That's actually very smart and interesting !
Such a great video. I love the way you spun an overwhelming amount of lore into an easy to understand narrative. I've played through Dark Souls 1 and 2, Bloodborne, and am currently about halfway through Dark Souls 3, ONLY because I began watching this series. So thanks for that. Seriously.
Interestingly, I didn't find Gwyndolin in my playthrough. I didn't discover that Gwenevere was an illusion and make darkness fall on Anor Londo. But playing through Dark Souls 3, knowing these things now increases my enjoyment of it, because...SPOILERS! You're gonna love it. :)
Now on wards to DS2:Sotfs and or DS3 side quest.
I hope DS3, because it expands the story of DS1 a lot. It gives more depth to the story and basically shoves aside DS2:Sotfs story.
If you are going to play DS2:Sotfs first, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you level a stat called "Agility", to 20-25 as fast as you can. I won't say why (nothing story related so don't worry) but as you level it up, you will notice why. Get DS2:SOTFS edition, not DS2 base edition (as I like to call it) since DS2:Sotfs is the definitive version.
Keep up the great work to everyone involved, love both Extra Play and Extra Credits.
The questions on Gwyn's Firstborn are answered in DS3
Kindly shut up, some people don't want to know that
Notably, snakes are said to be a symbol of the undead in the description of the Covetous Silver/Gold Serpent rings, so that could explain Gwyndolin's leg-snake things. It could symbolize them/him being "above" the undead, which makes sense, given their/his manipulative attitude towards them.
Dear Dan,
As I understand it, you intend to Extra Play the Dark Souls games in order; you've finished the first, and you're going to do the second before the third. Do you have plans to play Demon Souls or Bloodborne on this channel? I'm pretty sure you mentioned having played both of those already, but I'm sure a Souls game replay would be equally interesting as a first look. Fewer reactions, yes, but a firmer grasp of the mechanics allowing for more developer-talk about the differences between the games.
Sincerely,
Tim
+Timothy McLean
he really should play 3 while it's fresh, the after release buzz is something you can only experience once
and the second game was forgettable at best
sotijas Eh. It's his decision.
And if he finishes Dark Souls 2 quickly enough, he might get to 3 while it's still a little warm.
Through repeated playthroughs of this game, I came to understand how important to the Dark Souls formula Blightown is, and I came to actually appreciate it a lot more. Especially since I'm a pyromancer and my favourite weapon is the Washing Pole, both reasons to frequent the swamp at the base.
Of course some obstacles are important to the place and some are just bullshit. Like the horrible frame rate and the dodgy collision on the floors.
Without spoiling too much for you Dan, Dark Souls 3 all but confirms that Solaire is not the Lost Firstborn.
+ClockworkHeart42 that spoils a lot actually
Ya can't really blame Nito for being lazy.
I mean death is suppose to be a big nap in the sky, yet here he still is, just a bag of bones. Dudes just tired.
New Londo and Oolacile, the first look into what the darkness holds if the fire is left unkindled.
Many agree, its pretty bad, pretty bad.
Demon's Souls would be an interesting one to see.
+Steve Peters I agree, although i wonder if he has any past experience with it. I know James is really big demons souls fan(extra credits is actually the first place i saw it).
Lore wise, this is one of the more insanely dense games I've ever scene. There are so many layers that keeps going and you have to keep patiently peeling them away without having any idea what the whole picture is until the end
I absolutely loved this video and you've given me tons of videos to entertain myself with.
I binged a bunch of Dark Souls lore videos a few weeks ago just like Dan did, and the thing I love about Dark Souls' lore is that it never loses its emotion. No matter how deeply you delve, the things you find still have a significant impact on how you view the story. Compare that with, for example, FNAF, in which untangling the lore isn't really necessary to appreciate the game, nor does it significantly change your perspective on it.
Soooo.... DarkSouls 2? I mean, take a break and do whatever you want with your free time instead for awhile (Or play through Dark Souls 1 again once or twice to meet the other Serpent and such, whatever you want), but when your curiosity makes you finally jump into Dark Souls 2, we'll watch.
I second this, plus a lore video like this one. I played DS2 all trough along with the dlc's, and boy did I understood nothing about the story. "Something something Giants, something something Throne of Want, something something Last Dragon (which is an odd title considering I saw plenty flying about)" The DlC's short stories I did understood, but I have no clue how they connect with the general Lore. Only thanks to this video I understand what I was doing in Elum Loyce albeit barely (something something eternal chaos, something something because witches).
Second time watching this video.
Watching your first playthrough of this game is what made me reconsider my stance on it in the first place. Diving into the lore with the recommended video channels really broadened my understanding of the appeal.
And now?
Well, I'm not GOOD at the game. I only JUST beat the first(!) Capra demon after twenty tries, my death count is in the 100s, and Darkroot Basin seems hell-bent on making me break a controller.
But instead of letting these challenges dissuade or frustrate me, as they would coming from other, lesser games, I am galvanized. Each of my many, MANY deaths gives me a chance to swear, scream, and curse, but then I pick myself up and dive headlong in again.
Honestly, thank the Sun for the Drake Sword. I cheesed it off the Hellkite Drake (can't kill it yet because FIRE. EVERYWHERE. ALL OF THE FIRE.), and it's been my best friend going forward. I know eventually it will be insufficient to the task, but for the time being, the whole reason I've been able to progress as far as I have is that beautiful bloody weapon. I even raised my Strength enough, despite starting as a Pyromancer (because, again, ALL OF THE FIRE.), to wield it one-handed so I could also carry a shield. Because this is Dark Souls, and Chosen Undead + Shield = OTP.
Thank you again, Dan, for convincing me to change my mind on this engrossing, enraging, enthralling game. I even have Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin, just so I can continue this story after I (eventually) make it through the first.
Also, I don't know how, but I WILL find a way to save my Sun Bro first try. PRAISE IT!
Yeah, Dark Souls 3 put the "Solaire is the missing Son" theory to bed. Hopefully you'll get around to playing it!
mind you, the nameless king is nameless for a reason. you never know how hollows evolve.
I love how you wandered around the Abyss looking for Kaath, haha!
If you dont already know this, you can't meet him if you talk to Frampt, and vise versa. You can only meet one of them in a playthrough.
SO will you be going on to 2, or skipping straight to 3? From what I can tell, I don't think 2 and 3 have that much linked together lore-wise, but 1 and 3 have a lot going on together.
+JackgarPrime With some cursory research, it seems that Souls 2 was produced mostly (Namely Hidetaka Miyazaki) without the core souls team, and that during that time (Or at least shortly after) the core team was actually working on Bloodborne. However, the core team returned to work on Dark Souls 3 which might explain the differences between 1&3 vs 2. The story of 2 is almost completely disconnected with Souls 1&3 making little to no mention to the first flame. Personally I would rather he just skip straight to Souls 3 as it's more of a direct sequel, with many recurring characters.
MineMurphydog
Yeah that's largely the reason why I was curious if it would get skipped or not for the sake of this series.
+MineMurphydog Story wise dark souls 2 was only really meant to represent how the cycle never ends, other than that the story was as you say, disconnected from the other souls games. I would play dark souls 2 first just because I enjoyed it, but you know :P
+Nick Marshman I didn't really enjoy it as much as I enjoyed 1 & 3. So I'd like him to skip it for now and come back later for selfish reasons, however I do think it makes sense lorewise for him to play them out of sequence too.
MineMurphydog There's not much reason to avoid 2, other than "oh I didn't like it."
Wall of text inc (spoilers on ds2 and minor spoilers for ds3).
The story may not have been based on Gwyn and the lords, but it's meant to show the impact of how the cycle never ends. More than that, it's meant to show that whatever choice you have in the end doesn't matter. Whether you link the flame or walk away, someone else will succeed you and take your place. If you didn't know that, you may be wondering "why did my choice in dark souls 1 not impact dark souls 3 at all?" I don't believe it's an easy connection if you just skip two, unless you look up lore instead of playing the game yourself.
Thank you Dan. Seriously. This is my favourite game and its been wonderful to be there through your journey. One thing i was hoping you would touch on, which is my favourite part of the lore and speculation is about Solaire. You can save him. In fact you can bring him into the last battle with Gwyn. Furthering on the point you mentioned, he is likely Gwyns forgotten son.
Solaire is looking to become the sun, or just be as lovely incandescent. What if, at the end of the fight with Gwyn, you let him kindle the flame instead. Finally after everything, he becomes the first fire. Everything he has always wanted to be. Someone at last gets a happy ending. This is my head canon now.
Then again, maybe he wasn't looking for the Sun, but being cast out he really wanted to be the son (of Gwyn because daddy why???)
This show has been something I've looked forward to every week. I can't wait until you start up Dark Souls 2. I'll definitely be along for the ride.
I'd love to see more of these kinds of videos from you. Playing through an oblique,lore-heavy game utterly blind,then looking back on it,throwing in your two cents. It's just so... Refreshing.
16:32 Now, with Dark Souls 3 out, it's not valid anymore :P
+Shinigami00Azael so solaire is just a mad knight?
zack iron-heart Solaire always will be grosly incandecent :3
+zack iron-heart Nah I think Solaire is a man with a dream. He certainly had a very interesting past I am sure of that, but I assume it is his very own. Who knows, maybe he really did belong somewhere among the ranks of the gods, but I do not think he was the firstborn due to... evidence. Don't want to spoil anything for Dan or the others here who haven't played DS3
+Sneaky Dexter nameless king
I was actually in a similar position that you were when I first picked up Dark Souls - all it ever did was frustrate and anger me, and I couldn't understand why anyone wanted to continue running headlong into the brick wall that the game felt like it was. It took a few tries, and almost a year of on-and-off play to finally get through my first playthrough, but after about the halfway point, at about Anor Londo, I was absolutely hooked.
It was great watching you play through this, because watching you and your transformation from fear and frustration into adoration and nigh-addiction to the game reminded me so much of my own.
Can't wait to see your Dark Souls II run!
please tell me your gonna do a DS2 play through.
This is an EXCELLENT primer. This might be the best condensed single-video overview of the lore of the first game and the universe in general. If I wanted to give a confused person the shortest crash course I could without them having to hunt around, I'd probably link them to this. Well done!
And hell yeah, we're interested! Bring on Dark Souls 2: Side Quest Boogaloo!
Boy am I interested. I would really like to see you tackle DS2 or DS3. Especially 3. 2... was an improvement in certain little things and some battle mechanics, and an overall downgrade everywhere else, sadly.
*****
3 was a copy of 3, huh? Interesting. I wonder how that happened.
3 does include all the little quality of life improvements of 2 and the increased framerate which helps the combat feel a lot more fluid. It brings the kick back, which is a hell of a lot better than DS2's awkward guard break, and improves on parries: not so lenient as DS1, but not as ridiculous as DS2, where every parry had to be, essentially, a hard read. Also, weapon arts are a great addition to the combat, too. I love some of them.
Now, if you actually meant DS3 is a copy of 1, then I'd love to see what version of 1 you played.
+Andrés Cifuentes
DS3 is great, it's a refined DS1 experience, while DS2 is subpar at best.
***** Alright, I get it. You like Demon's Souls. Geez, you're like the genwunners of Souls...
Also, dual wielding is there for weapons that make sense for it, ascetics were far too easy to abuse, and the netcode is just as bad as it has EVER been.
The poise thing does kinda suck, but then again, it was broken anyway. In DS2 you were either a Havel scrub, or you got wrecked by straight swords at the smallest mistake.
And you can't be serious about Black Gulch being a good area...
+Andrés Cifuentes Dark souls 3 is much too linear compared to the previous games, it doesn't set up enough new world building instead choosing to constantly reference Dark Souls 1 as much as possible. This extends to the equipment, npcs and even areas giving the entire game a derivative feel.
The Bloodborne combat speed and lack of poise outside ultra armour from great weapon swings means the best way to avoid taking damage is to constantly R1 spam to stagger lock enemies to death. The speed increase has also meant the end of thinking when you roll, the stamina consumed from rolling is so low where before you would roll once then try to counter now you can get away with rolling twice or three times no problem. The pace is faster but it's much more autopilot.
The covenants are a massive step back from Dark Souls 2 where before the bell or rat covenants worked immediately now you can sit around Farron Keep all day without the wolf covenant doing anything. The new mound maker covenant relies on your opponent to not knowing what the purple sign means because after their first encounter they aren't using it again. There's no covenant of champions for people who want a tougher experience and there are no pvp arenas. We do however get the darkmoon blades and the blue sentinels doing the same thing at the same time. While we now have a full red eye orb Miyazaki has ordained using one means being pulled into the world of a player using summons so you're just walking into gank squads all day.
The level design is much better (outside consumed king's garden and profaned capital) however they don't link together like a metroidvania instead you're always pushing forward from one to the next just like Dark Souls 2 with all those shortcuts going abandoned once you reach the next bonfire. While Dark souls 2 at least had a lot of content to make up for this, Dark Souls 3 is much shorter.
The bosses are fun though, can't criticise From for that.
hurrdurrmurrgurr sadly that's a pretty good synopsis of ds3 .. what on earth was Myazaki thinking making the game so linear and speeding up combat to the point that its so focused on rolls and r1 spam? I still love the atmosphere and lore of the game though. Gameplay is good too but that r1 spam and lack of deliverate use of blocking hurts.
I'm very happy with the idea that I've been here to enjoy, endure and challenge the world of Dark Souls with you Dan. It's been a neat trip and I've learned a lot through my time with this game with you.
can you play dark souls 2 & 3
3 first, it's much, much, much better. And the lore makes more sense that way, surprisingly.
+Tauren Oracle He already said he will play DS2 first.
Jeremiah B Dang it. I don't want anything to do with DS2 right now, I dun' moved on.
Like Dan, Dark Souls intimidated me and I never attempted it. After seeing the first few videos here though, I finally gave it a try and absolutely loved it. Very satisfying once you get over the initial difficulty. And it's a lot of fun to analyse the game design and narrative where you can really appreciate the work that went into making it great. Good job on the series Dan. I hope you make more.
Can you play dark souls 3
+pc master race Right after defeating DS2 I guess.
+PhiPhi72 and maybe bloodborne after both of them then
SERIOUS PROPS TO DAN. organizing and planning this out must have taken a lot of his time. I am glad to see he enjoyed himself so much.
Go fight kalameet dammit xD Can t wait for DS2
+Dantick09 I cold NOT remember. Did he ever fight kalameet in his playthrough? lmao
+Kevin Ryan he managed to miss half the oolacile. Kalameet is not dead, Im pretty sure.
In fact, he definitel is not, because he never met Gough
+Kevin Ryan No, he missed him along with Gough and Sif lol
We’ve got a second chance now with the remastered co-op run
Dan's considerations and voice and vocal patterns are so pleasant and charming, thank you
You should jump right into Dark Souls 3, as the story continues the one you just finished. Then go to Dark Souls 2, which kinda sorta maybe explains some things about the universe.
Dan,
having seen you play Dark Souls was great.
I actually played it alongside you, due to me, for a long long time, not listening to my friends.
I was always about an episode ahead of you and it was so much fun to see if you'd choose another path.
I really look forward to Dark Souls 2 and 3. I just recently finished the second part, and I guess until I finish the third, it will take a long time, since i only have time to play one day per week due to my son.
Thank you a lot.
So is the laziest skeleton of all time Sans?
27:09
Nito is way lazier. He's spent the entire end of the world minding his own business in his catacomb home.
+Ethan Stansmore he said that he is the second do.
+Ethan Stansmore 27:09
Great video Dan, yes a fair number of us already knew all of this and more, but you said it well and its good to be reminded where you stand as we join you in dark souls 2 (since obviously there are 2 more games filled with information to illuminate/obscure some of these things). Congratulations on a successful dark souls run, I look forward to seeing how you approach the next two games in the series now that you know more about how the games work and the lore involved.
I loved this. I followed your entire playthrough of this game and, as an avid Dark Souls fan, I'd love to see you continue your journey. Having played the first game to death, finishing the second one twice and currently on my way to complete the third installment, I love to see how people react to and interpret what these games have to offer, especially when they're observant and actually *trying* to assemble a "complete" (as complete as can be expected) understanding of the world.
I'm by no means a lore expert but piecing together stories such as this is incredibly fun, especially when there's a community of people striving to do the same, leading to shared stories, impressions and theories.
Looking forward to whatever more this channel has to offer, especially if it's Dark Souls related. Thank you.
(Also, how about switching between holding weapons 1 handed and 2 handed in the middle of combat, huh? It's time to git gud. [I hope you don't think I'm actually criticizing you, I just can't help it. I have to make 'git gud' jokes on occasion.])
I like how Danimation in the thumbnail is reading The Design Works for Dark Souls. Nice touch!
With how crisply you are talking in this post-mortem -- and compared to the near-constant frightened timidity of the actual run -- I swear can almost HEAR the signature high-pitched squeak
It's too bad I can only 'like' once. Great video, really glad you did something like this.
It's such an awesome thing to see other people share the amazing experience that is Dark Souls as its rich world and deep lore slowly reveal themselves. The growth that the player goes through as they progress is testament to the art form that games can be.
Amazing how different Dan's voice sounds, these days.
I would have liked more on your personal thoughts/reactions to how things have changed for you after learning the lore.
We can already read/view so much pre-existing knowledge on lore already but we watched your Darksouls play through to experience things through your eyes.
So awesome of you to post this up though!
I've gotta say, I've loved and played the games for years and watched tons of lore videos but I never appreciated Gwyndolin's role in the story this much until I saw this video.
It was awesome watching someone experience Dark Souls for the first time, it reminded me why I love this game so much- thank you :)
Thanks so much for making this video. I already knew most of this, but it's so nice to hear it again from someone who is also not a master of dark souls lore. Most of the videos I watched on the lore even from vaati target an audience of already hardened souls veterans. So I often get lost when it comes in depth analysis and speculation. I always wanted to discuss the lore with someone in person. This was the closest thing to that for me, until now.