I was talking with a friend about this the other day and he said something I think summed it up really well; “Dark Souls 1 is not as good as we remember in the same way Uncharted 2 is not as good as we remember.” Basically, we remember all the ways it improved on the original and became a mainstream mega-success. But there’s also been a ton of general improvement in gaming since those games came out and they end up feeling slightly dated.
I just finished my first playthrough of dark souls 1 remastered (my first souls game ever) and its amazing and I think it hold up in 2024. (79 hours I believe). Currently in my first playthrough of Dark souls 2.
That's a very bold title & thumbnail. Now lets find out why the most handsome German doesn't think ds1 holds up. Btw fun fact about Bed of Bullshit. When you fight it on Switch if you are facing the arena entrance with the camera it will cause the game to crash Regarding the Anor Londo section. That's kinda what ds3 does
I feel like that's very on brand for the Bed of Chaos... And yeah I think DS3 handled that very well, but I intentionally didn't talk about it here for future video purposes ;)
I never understood the people who said that the second half of DS1 was considerably worse than the first. The arguments I always hear about are the lack of cohesion felt in the Undead Burg and the problem that is balancing 4 separate zones that can be challenged in any order, making your character stronger for the ones you choose to do last. However, neither of these are as bad as people make them out to be. For example, the fact that you may challenge the 4 lords in any order and your character will level up and get upgrade materials is offset by having challenges in each zone that are completely detach from how big your stats are. New Londo has a "time trial" mechanic. You can only hit the enemies under the effect of a transient curse, so if you're slow you might find yourself unable to fight. That same mechanic is present in the 4 kings fight, being basically a DPS check. The catacombs have the resurecting skeletons with bleed (wich takes a % of your health so they're never trully harmless), also present in Nito's fight, and the Tomb of Giants has the light mechanic wich makes exploration harder while also burdening your characters by having your left hand carry a lantern. The Duke's Archives has the channelers, that make every normal enemy a threat, invisible platforms and while Seath is not a challenging fight he's never harmless either due to the curse mechanic. Lost Izalith gives you the choice to explore one of the largest areas of the game at the cost of giving your character a slow poison type of effect, as standing in lava even with the ring decreases your hp constantly. And while I'm not defending Bed of Chaos, it's undeniable that you'll find it equally challenging no matter your level. And about the cohesion of the Undead Burg compared to the rest of the game, this was never a problem and I don't think people who complain about this have put much thought in what the alternative would mean. The abundant shotcut approach to the first half was a necessity, since you don't have fast-travel. Is was the solution to having the player travel long distances and not having them going back and forth in each area once it's beaten. If you had it since the start of the game, no shortcut would be needed, as you could always just put another bonfire and have the player teleport between them. You wouldn't need an elevator to the Undead Cathedral from Firelink or a faster way out of Blighttown crossing the Valley of Dragons. The Valley of Dragons in fact would be completely out of the game, as it only serves as a way to connect the world. So why not get rid of fast-travel entirely and give a large amount of shortcuts in the second part to keep the feeling of cohesion? Because there's no way you can justify a shortcut between Bed of Chaos, the Four Kings or Seth's arena to a more open/central area of the game, and even if you could the amount of backtracking needed between each of the 4 lords would be absurd assuming you've unlocked every other shotcut (unless you take the DS2 approach and each final bonfire teleports you to Firelink). But why do I say that it isn't a problem in the first place? two reasons: First, because it's not a requirement that the game does it in order to have good level desing. You might think that the game would benefit from it, but depending on how it is implemeted it could also make it worse and seem less like a real place and more like a forced way to stop or advance progression. Second, It's also not like the sense of being in a cohesive scenario is completely lost in the second half. There are still at least one mayor shortcut in each area, often connecting with previous levels, and you get other ways of understanding your location in the world. You're able to see the ladscapes of other zones, you usually move away from the center of the map, wich makes it easier to understand your place in the world and there's no feeling that you should be standing in another area that should cut this one in half unlike some of DS2. And again unlike DS2, the elevator rides as tunnels are short enough to be consistent and not throw the player off his mental image of the world.
The first time I ever played DS1 was on a jailbroken XB360 (no online feature, therefore no secondhand aid whatsoever), must have spent months on/off farming the skeletons at Undead Burg to level up cause I didn't know any better, couldn't get used to the clunky controls (subjectively, at the time to me), and eventually just got completely turned off by it completely even before I got to the Taurus Demon cause I keep dying to both the skeletons and the environment. Many years after that only from DS2 onwards do I truly enjoy and appreciate soulslike games as I got to grips with the gameplay and controls. Still never managed to go back to playing DS1 though.
>:0 the title says something intentionally controversial?!?! i better go to the comments and tell this guy that he's wrong and stupid before i even watch the video!
Zelda ocarina of time and ds1 are my favorite games ever made, my hope is that one day ds1 gets a remake, giving a new coat of paint and, changed at its very core
Only good thing I can say about Bed of Chaos is that I really like the design from a visual standpoint, and that I like it slightly better than Dragon God from Demons’ souls in terms of mechanics.
Always bugged me that demons souls doesn't usually get credit for starting the souls like Genres. Yes dark souls was "better" and kicked off the famous soul trilogy, but Demons souls started it all and showed there was a market and potential fan base for the style
It's always the one who shouts the loudest that gets all the recognition, which in this case just happened to be Dark Souls. Demons Souls ran so Dark Souls could walk, but if the latter is more appealing to people they'll just go and play that.
I mean, it’s a fantastic game no doubt. But nowadays, to me it feels sluggish, the combat feels unpolished. The joy of exploration and the insanely good world and level design still hit, the art direction is still striking and evocative, but the mechanical experience of playing it feels dated.
Oh it's incredibly fun no doubt! But I am most critical of the things I love, so I can't ignore some of the issues in this game when compared to newer Souls-likes.
I’m not even watching the video. Is It As GoOd As We ReMeMbEr???! Bro I literally am on a new playthrough playing the 360 version on my Series X (because why tf would I buy the game again). I’ve been playing since DS1 was free with gold on Xbox in like… 2014 or something lmao so 10 years.
IMO it has aged quite poorly in some ways (it feels VERY clunky and I miss a lot of the QoL stuff from later games), but in other ways it has aged amazingly well. The world design and atmosphere are still absolutely top notch, and every section feels memorable.
I was talking with a friend about this the other day and he said something I think summed it up really well;
“Dark Souls 1 is not as good as we remember in the same way Uncharted 2 is not as good as we remember.”
Basically, we remember all the ways it improved on the original and became a mainstream mega-success. But there’s also been a ton of general improvement in gaming since those games came out and they end up feeling slightly dated.
Very well said!
@@upper_case_TCan’t wait to see the sequel video, “Scholar of the First Sin is as good as you remember” lol. Keep the hot takes coming!
I have no clue what a Dark or a Souls, or even a 1 is!
I just finished my first playthrough of dark souls 1 remastered (my first souls game ever) and its amazing and I think it hold up in 2024. (79 hours I believe).
Currently in my first playthrough of Dark souls 2.
It’s flawed but it is still as good as I remember, I played it this week rat boy
The elevator taking you down to firelink shrine. get rekt
Oh yeah, I like that one! What is this in reference to?
That's a very bold title & thumbnail. Now lets find out why the most handsome German doesn't think ds1 holds up.
Btw fun fact about Bed of Bullshit. When you fight it on Switch if you are facing the arena entrance with the camera it will cause the game to crash
Regarding the Anor Londo section. That's kinda what ds3 does
I feel like that's very on brand for the Bed of Chaos... And yeah I think DS3 handled that very well, but I intentionally didn't talk about it here for future video purposes ;)
I never understood the people who said that the second half of DS1 was considerably worse than the first. The arguments I always hear about are the lack of cohesion felt in the Undead Burg and the problem that is balancing 4 separate zones that can be challenged in any order, making your character stronger for the ones you choose to do last. However, neither of these are as bad as people make them out to be.
For example, the fact that you may challenge the 4 lords in any order and your character will level up and get upgrade materials is offset by having challenges in each zone that are completely detach from how big your stats are.
New Londo has a "time trial" mechanic. You can only hit the enemies under the effect of a transient curse, so if you're slow you might find yourself unable to fight. That same mechanic is present in the 4 kings fight, being basically a DPS check. The catacombs have the resurecting skeletons with bleed (wich takes a % of your health so they're never trully harmless), also present in Nito's fight, and the Tomb of Giants has the light mechanic wich makes exploration harder while also burdening your characters by having your left hand carry a lantern. The Duke's Archives has the channelers, that make every normal enemy a threat, invisible platforms and while Seath is not a challenging fight he's never harmless either due to the curse mechanic. Lost Izalith gives you the choice to explore one of the largest areas of the game at the cost of giving your character a slow poison type of effect, as standing in lava even with the ring decreases your hp constantly. And while I'm not defending Bed of Chaos, it's undeniable that you'll find it equally challenging no matter your level.
And about the cohesion of the Undead Burg compared to the rest of the game, this was never a problem and I don't think people who complain about this have put much thought in what the alternative would mean. The abundant shotcut approach to the first half was a necessity, since you don't have fast-travel. Is was the solution to having the player travel long distances and not having them going back and forth in each area once it's beaten. If you had it since the start of the game, no shortcut would be needed, as you could always just put another bonfire and have the player teleport between them. You wouldn't need an elevator to the Undead Cathedral from Firelink or a faster way out of Blighttown crossing the Valley of Dragons. The Valley of Dragons in fact would be completely out of the game, as it only serves as a way to connect the world.
So why not get rid of fast-travel entirely and give a large amount of shortcuts in the second part to keep the feeling of cohesion? Because there's no way you can justify a shortcut between Bed of Chaos, the Four Kings or Seth's arena to a more open/central area of the game, and even if you could the amount of backtracking needed between each of the 4 lords would be absurd assuming you've unlocked every other shotcut (unless you take the DS2 approach and each final bonfire teleports you to Firelink).
But why do I say that it isn't a problem in the first place? two reasons:
First, because it's not a requirement that the game does it in order to have good level desing. You might think that the game would benefit from it, but depending on how it is implemeted it could also make it worse and seem less like a real place and more like a forced way to stop or advance progression.
Second, It's also not like the sense of being in a cohesive scenario is completely lost in the second half. There are still at least one mayor shortcut in each area, often connecting with previous levels, and you get other ways of understanding your location in the world. You're able to see the ladscapes of other zones, you usually move away from the center of the map, wich makes it easier to understand your place in the world and there's no feeling that you should be standing in another area that should cut this one in half unlike some of DS2. And again unlike DS2, the elevator rides as tunnels are short enough to be consistent and not throw the player off his mental image of the world.
Bro, what?
The first time I ever played DS1 was on a jailbroken XB360 (no online feature, therefore no secondhand aid whatsoever), must have spent months on/off farming the skeletons at Undead Burg to level up cause I didn't know any better, couldn't get used to the clunky controls (subjectively, at the time to me), and eventually just got completely turned off by it completely even before I got to the Taurus Demon cause I keep dying to both the skeletons and the environment. Many years after that only from DS2 onwards do I truly enjoy and appreciate soulslike games as I got to grips with the gameplay and controls. Still never managed to go back to playing DS1 though.
>:0 the title says something intentionally controversial?!?! i better go to the comments and tell this guy that he's wrong and stupid before i even watch the video!
I was feeling brave today
I just did that exact thing lol
I'd argue making an intentionally provocative title kinda opens you up to nasty comments. He intentionally named it this, after all.
Zelda ocarina of time and ds1 are my favorite games ever made, my hope is that one day ds1 gets a remake, giving a new coat of paint and, changed at its very core
Still a masterpiece. Yes it’s an old game with all the gameplay issues that come with that but still a genre defining masterpiece
Only good thing I can say about Bed of Chaos is that I really like the design from a visual standpoint, and that I like it slightly better than Dragon God from Demons’ souls in terms of mechanics.
Always bugged me that demons souls doesn't usually get credit for starting the souls like Genres. Yes dark souls was "better" and kicked off the famous soul trilogy, but Demons souls started it all and showed there was a market and potential fan base for the style
It's always the one who shouts the loudest that gets all the recognition, which in this case just happened to be Dark Souls. Demons Souls ran so Dark Souls could walk, but if the latter is more appealing to people they'll just go and play that.
we gotta watch the funny german dude
(and most handsome)
My ego going ↑
Nonsense I just played it and it's as fun as all the other fromsoft games
I mean, it’s a fantastic game no doubt. But nowadays, to me it feels sluggish, the combat feels unpolished. The joy of exploration and the insanely good world and level design still hit, the art direction is still striking and evocative, but the mechanical experience of playing it feels dated.
Oh it's incredibly fun no doubt! But I am most critical of the things I love, so I can't ignore some of the issues in this game when compared to newer Souls-likes.
Dark Souls 1 is literally the Andrew Tate of video games
I’m not even watching the video. Is It As GoOd As We ReMeMbEr???! Bro I literally am on a new playthrough playing the 360 version on my Series X (because why tf would I buy the game again).
I’ve been playing since DS1 was free with gold on Xbox in like… 2014 or something lmao so 10 years.
Great, hope you keep having fun!
IMO it has aged quite poorly in some ways (it feels VERY clunky and I miss a lot of the QoL stuff from later games), but in other ways it has aged amazingly well. The world design and atmosphere are still absolutely top notch, and every section feels memorable.
I never had nostalgia for 1 meaning I absolutely hated it through and through not a bad game but definitely not a game I like replaying
Fifth