Dark Souls

As an interesting note on Dark Souls (and Demons' Souls as well), much of the universe and visual design is inspired by the manga Berserk http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Manga/Berserk?from=Main.Berserk. Berserk is one of the longest running mangas in Japan, and has been an underlying influence on games for years, but Demons' Souls and Dark Souls are particularly influenced by the style and tone of Berserk. The game director (as well as myself) are admitted fans of the manga, so the references are probably intentional.

The wheel monsters from Dark Souls seem clearly inspired by these: https://i.imgur.com/BbMf9.jpg

The Taurus demon and Nosferatu Zodd: https://i.imgur.com/KzV2S.jpg http://media.animevice.com/uploads/2/21714/368033-bp_zodd_super.jpg

Artorias the Abysswalker drawing upon Guts in his Berserker Armor: https://i.imgur.com/1ZUfB.jpg  https://i.imgur.com/9p3bq.jpg
In addition, both characters have lost the use of one of their arms, and Artorias is implied to have had a relationship with his female warrior comrade Ciaran, which parallels Guts as well.

The Balder Armor and greatsword make you look like young Guts: https://2img.net/r/ihimg/a/img39/2996/2012121500001.jpg

A collection of similar visuals and designs from Berserk and Demons' Souls: https://2img.net/h/i123.photobucket.com/albums/o312/oracrest/Demons%20Souls/1271717936246.jpg
In addtion to the design itself, the description of the Dragon Bone Smasher (written in Japanese in the picture) is meant to mirror the description of Gut's sword, the Dragon Slayer.

A graveyard dotted with swords as graves and the grave of Artorias: http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080611142909/berserk/images/thumb/2/2d/Hill_of_Swords.jpg/250px-Hill_of_Swords.jpg http://images.wikia.com/darksouls/images/9/95/Great_Grey_Wolf_Sif_01.png

The Snake Baron apostle in his transformed form and a Snake Man from Dark Souls: http://images.wikia.com/berserk/images/3/35/Snake_Baron.jpg http://www.creativeuncut.com/gallery-18/art/ds-snake-man.jpg

Both Dark Souls and Berserk have a blacksmith named Rickert.

Both Dark Souls and Berserk have a place of darkness called the Abyss that one can use a pendant to protect oneself from. What exists in the Abyss in the DLC has some interesting parallels as well that are very spoilerific.

The idea of the Darksign has parallels with the demon Brand that Guts receives early one, which marks him as a sacrifice to the demons and draws monsters to him.

Witch Beatrice from Dark Souls and the witch Shierke from Berserk are each witches that can traverse the Abyss (and have the same fashion sense). They also both fight people called the Four Kings.

The overall tone of dark fantasy and human tenacity against overwhelming supernatural forces are quite similar as well.

A behelit (used to create a covenant with the demon lords) and the symbol for the Darkwraith covenant: http://cooljapannow.jp/pictures/l/04/00/NEOGDS-68590.jpg http://psnprofiles.com/lib/img/games/a68ce9/trophies/13Lcab359.png

Speaking of Darkwraiths, a Darkwraith and The Skull Knight: https://i.imgur.com/iIJF6.jpg http://codyscoop.com/a/aow-skullknight/skull_0095.jpg

I highly recommend the manga to anyone that is okay with the mature content. The violence and sexual content are usually graphic, but it's purposefully used to create tone and intensity. I recommend skipping the first couple volumes because Guts can be pretty damn unlikeable in them when the author was still finding the character (and his artstyle), but once the extended flashback starts in the end of the third volume and he has some character development, he really becomes a great character. You also trade a sense of foreboding for a stronger twist by skipping the first three volumes.

Here's a link to the manga, starting from where I recommended: http://www.mangareader.net/96-1123-171/berserk/chapter-3.html

Credit to soulswiki for the information and most of the pictures.

Nice post Hrothdane. Knew much of it already from my many delvings into Dark Souls lore and such. Have not read Berserk though as I generally do not like overly gory stuff, even if it is in the interest of the story.

But to add my own bit to this I would like to link the channels of two youtube users who have delved into the lore of Dark Souls and who both explain and theorize about the lore really well. Watching their videos have certainly given me a better understanding of the characters and story which has led to a deeper experience on subsequent playthroughs for me.

The two are:

VaatiVidya: Link
Epic name, bro!: Link

Both have some fantastic lore videos. Though most of the stuff is the same across both, they have a different take on a few things, like what it means to go hollow. This is most noticeable when they talk about Siegmeyer of Catarina.

In general I think Epic name, bro! has the better general lore videos, but VaatiVidya has a great series called Prepare to Cry where he examines the story of individual NPC's in the game.

I would recommend beating the game before looking into it as there are spoilers, but for those seeking a deeper understanding of the lore these two can help.

CoolioThane wrote:Am I near the end then?! I'm loving the Pyromancy even though I'm a hunter

Wait...gotta ask this...is Lautrec (the guy in golden armor you can find in a cell near the first bell) still alive on your playthrough?

BlueLogic wrote:

As Hrothdane pointed out...not quite heheh. Still, you managed to overcome A LOT. Did you use the master key to cut out the trip through the depths?

Fighting the Capra demon was the first brick wall I ran into hard. It took me many many attempts to overcome him. Then there were the pointless trips into New Londo Ruins I took trying to figure out where I should be going.

Suffice to say, you have to get a lot of things right before you can get into Sen's fortress. So, be proud and soldier on! So much more to see...

Awesome build ideas! 1000 dmg is amazing, but the toxic is just...just wrong.

The Capra Demon was extremely hard the first time. Such a sudden fight with little room to maneuver. And then followed by the depths....*shiver*

Luckily I know route which can get me from the start of the depths to the boss in about 5 minutes. with just a short detour to get the bonfire as well.

Well toxic can only be inflicted by 2 weapons in the entire game and one of those is a two handed sword. I don't really consider it wrong either, this is Dark Souls after all and I am of the mind set that anything bar direct cheating goes in PvP here. Still don't use Dark Magic though as Dark Beads is just a bit too cheap at times.

Running a Sorcerer build at the moment using Velka's Rapier (Int scaling, yay) and Ricards Rapier (+15 and I then enchant it with Crystal Magic Weapon to make its rapid stab heavy attack very powerful). But i am shifting towards the Moonlight Greatsword which i got from Seath now as it just looks cool.

My main PvP tactic however boils down to two spells. Chameleon and Crystal Soul Spear. When invaded i use Chameleon to hide as a object in a corner and when the invader gets close I surprise him with Soul Spear. With Bellowing Dragon Crest Ring, the Crown of the Dark Sun and Tin Crystalization Catalyst i usually hit for between 1000-1300 damage, usually resulting in an instant kill.

If spotted i go for a more standard fight though as Soul Spear is easy to dodge. Usually I will try to get off a Crystal Weapon enchant for my Rapier though.

Raistlin Majere wrote:

CoolioThane wrote:Am I near the end then?! I'm loving the Pyromancy even though I'm a hunter

Wait...gotta ask this...is Lautrec (the guy in golden armor you can find in a cell near the first bell) still alive on your playthrough?

BlueLogic wrote:

As Hrothdane pointed out...not quite heheh.  Still, you managed to overcome A LOT.  Did you use the master key to cut out the trip through the depths?  

Fighting the Capra demon was the first brick wall I ran into hard.  It took me many many attempts to overcome him.  Then there were the pointless trips into New Londo Ruins I took trying to figure out where I should be going.  

Suffice to say, you have to get a lot of things right before you can get into Sen's fortress.  So, be proud and soldier on!  So much more to see...

Awesome build ideas!  1000 dmg is amazing, but the toxic is just...just wrong.  

The Capra Demon was extremely hard the first time. Such a sudden fight with little room to maneuver. And then followed by the depths....*shiver*

Luckily I know route which can get me from the start of the depths to the boss in about 5 minutes. with just a short detour to get the bonfire as well.

Well toxic can only be inflicted by 2 weapons in the entire game and one of those is a two handed sword. I don't really consider it wrong either, this is Dark Souls after all and I am of the mind set that anything bar direct cheating goes in PvP here. Still don't use Dark Magic though as Dark Beads is just a bit too cheap at times.

Running a Sorcerer build at the moment using Velka's Rapier (Int scaling, yay) and Ricards Rapier (+15 and I then enchant it with Crystal Magic Weapon to make its rapid stab heavy attack very powerful). But i am shifting towards the Moonlight Greatsword which i got from Seath now as it just looks cool.

My main PvP tactic however boils down to two spells. Chameleon and Crystal Soul Spear. When invaded i use Chameleon to hide as a object in a corner and when the invader gets close I surprise him with Soul Spear. With Bellowing Dragon Crest Ring, the Crown of the Dark Sun and Tin Crystalization Catalyst i usually hit for between 1000-1300 damage, usually resulting in an instant kill.

If spotted i go for a more standard fight though as Soul Spear is easy to dodge. Usually I will try to get off a Crystal Weapon enchant for my Rapier though.

I accidentally hit him with my sword and he stood up only to fall off the edge of the map and he died :(

BlueLogic wrote:

CoolioThane wrote:Am I near the end then?! I'm loving the Pyromancy even though I'm a hunter

As Hrothdane pointed out...not quite heheh.  Still, you managed to overcome A LOT.  Did you use the master key to cut out the trip through the depths?  

Fighting the Capra demon was the first brick wall I ran into hard.  It took me many many attempts to overcome him.  Then there were the pointless trips into New Londo Ruins I took trying to figure out where I should be going.  

Suffice to say, you have to get a lot of things right before you can get into Sen's fortress.  So, be proud and soldier on!  So much more to see...

Raistlin Majere wrote:...A Ascended (Everlasting Dragons covenant) strength focused two handed character using a the Great Demon Machete +15 (A scaling on Strength ). Throw in some light sorcery for Greater Magic Weapon and combined with the attack boosting roar of the Ascended form and I hit for around 1000 damage in a two handed swing. Trade off is that I have no armor, at all, but that also makes for quick rolls.

...The other is my Lord's Blade Ciaran Dexterity build. Using Ciaran's armor I dual wield Gold Tracer and Silver Tracer (Gold Tracer has two fast multi hit combos in off hand). I then have a Silver Knight Shield in secondary off hand and Pharis Bow in secondary main hand.

This is mostly a PvP build for me with which I have had some success. I start out at a distance trying to poison the enemy with arrows. Then I move in with Silver Tracer and Shield, judging my opponent and either going for parry or back stab if it is slow opponent. If that does not work I go for heavy main hand attacks to inflict toxic.

Once poison of toxic has been inflicted or I back stab them i switch to Gold Tracer and let loose a flurry of blows, not letting the enemy recover and going for knockout through the Gold Tracers bleed. 

Fun stuff to experiment with builds as there are so many.

Awesome build ideas!  1000 dmg is amazing, but the toxic is just...just wrong.  

The Depths was fun for me...I died only once on my first entrance as I accidentally got dropped on by a jelly. The frog things I found easy to take on, and the end boss was okay :)

Coliothane:

Ah okay, to bad. He has a surprise for the player after you ring the bells

But at least you got his ring now, right?

As for the depths, I don't consider them hard, just annoying, at least during the first play through.

I hated the Depths the first time, but I rather like them now because of the ease of farming humanity there.

On my current playthrough, I killed Nito and the Four Kings. The former gave me more trouble this time because I did not realize that having the Sunlight Maggot on made him spam sword spells under you lol. I did Izalith last before, so I didn't have the Maggot and thus had no problems.

The Four Kings were easy for me this time since I knew what to do. Power Within, +13 zweihander, a heavy poise set, and the crest shield to help close on them. I made sure to not upgrade my Pyromancy Flame because Power Within's buff stays the same no matter how upgraded your Pyromancy Flame is, but the health drain gets worse.

I finally killed the Hellkite Dragon and became a Sunbro, now that I have saved Brolaire and no longer need the Chaos Servent covenant. Since I have a build that uses faith anyways, the Great Lightning Spears should be quite helpful :D

Hrothdane wrote:...I made sure to not upgrade my Pyromancy Flame because Power Within's buff stays the same no matter how upgraded your Pyromancy Flame is, but the health drain gets worse.

Thankfully Power Within now drains health at a constant rate, rather than scaling with your flame. This was fixed in patch 1.06 according to darksouls.wikia.com. So, by all means, ascend away!

BlueLogic wrote:

Hrothdane wrote:...I made sure to not upgrade my Pyromancy Flame because Power Within's buff stays the same no matter how upgraded your Pyromancy Flame is, but the health drain gets worse.

Thankfully Power Within now drains health at a constant rate, rather than scaling with your flame.  This was fixed in patch 1.06 according to darksouls.wikia.com.  So, by all means, ascend away!

Excellent. Thanks for the heads-up.

Killed Manus on the second try! Just gotta finish off Bed of Chaos, clear the rest of Duke's Archives, and take down Kalameet and I'm ready for the Kiln.

I found a video that discusses the difficulty of Dark Souls: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toVNkuCELpU

I also found this nice picture someone made:

Hrothdane wrote:I found a video that discusses the difficulty of Dark Souls: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toVNkuCELpU

Hey video, don't be dissing on Fire Emblem's asshole reinforcements, it's a time honoured tradition!

At least Awakening usually gave you some warning...

RavenEyry wrote:

Hrothdane wrote:I found a video that discusses the difficulty of Dark Souls: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toVNkuCELpU

Hey video, don't be dissing on Fire Emblem's asshole reinforcements, it's a time honoured tradition!

At least Awakening usually gave you some warning...

Reinforcements? Time-honored tradition.
Reinforcements acting on the the same phase they appear? Bullshit.

If you did get warning, you usually had no way to actually know for certain where the reinforcements would appear on your first time through the level.

I like Fire Emblem: Awakening a lot, but that part of the game was stupid.

OK, it's up for a fiver on steam but I just found out I can't use my controller without buying a peripheral. So much for that.

RavenEyry wrote:OK, it's up for a fiver on steam but I just found out I can't use my controller without buying a peripheral. So much for that.

So...tragic. *Weeps*

Finally got around to watching those lore videos Raistlin linked earlier.  Mind = Blown.  Updated the OP with linkage.  

So, now I'm back into DS (escaped for maybe a month) and going for a corrupted Artorias style character.  Should be fun with the Abyss Greatsword, Greatshield of Artorias, some dark sorceries for flavor, etc.  

Questions for you guys:

1)  One of the videos I ran across mentioned that a Gravelord Servant's eye of death only spawns phantoms to fight against players who are in NG+.  Does your experience bear that out?  If so, it explains a lot lol.

2)  I forgot my second question; what was it?

BlueLogic wrote:Finally got around to watching those lore videos Raistlin linked earlier.  Mind = Blown.  Updated the OP with linkage.  

So, now I'm back into DS and going for a corrupted Artorias style character.  Should be fun with the Abyss Greatsword, Greatshield of Artorias, some dark sorceries for flavor, etc.  

Questions for you guys:

1)  One of the videos I ran across mentioned that a Gravelord Servant's eye of death only spawns phantoms to fight against players who are in NG+.  Does your experience bear that out?  If so, it explains a lot lol.

2)  I forgot my second question; what was it?

I ran a Gravelord servant once and though i did not reach New Game + with him, it only working there seems quite right considering i never once got Gravelord invaded.

Also I quite recently completed Demon Souls, the spiritual predecessor to Dark Souls. Certainly worth the play through for any Dark Souls fans and a surprising amount of PvP activity yet remains. Though one thing...if you hated the marsh at the bottom of Blight town in Dark Souls there is an area of Demons souls you will hate...a lot.

Also recently completed Dragon's Dogma and moving into the Dark Arisen content. Very good game. Possibly the best combat system I have ever seen for fighting large creatures. Especially the drake enemies are fantastic to fight and truly what Skyrim should have been in terms of the dragon battles.

It truly feels like an epic struggle against a truly formidable foe which can easily last upwards of 10-20 minutes depending on your level, if not longer if you are unprepared. And that is just a warm up for the battle with the titular Dragon, a battle which will easily pass 30 minutes and make Skyrim's excuses for a dragon battle seem quite tame.

The story of the game is quite sub par though and it has a lot of issues with pop in and other things that drag it down. But beyond that a great game.

Raistlin Majere wrote:I ran a Gravelord servant once and though i did not reach New Game + with him, it only working there seems quite right considering i never once got Gravelord invaded.

Ah, ok.  Thanks!  

0.o  Dat turnaround!  1 minute response time??  LOL

BlueLogic wrote:

Raistlin Majere wrote:I ran a Gravelord servant once and though i did not reach New Game + with him, it only working there seems quite right considering i never once got Gravelord invaded.

Ah, ok.  Thanks!  

0.o  Dat turnaround!  1 minute response time??  LOL

Summer holiday, lots of free time to keep myself up to date on everything happening on m favorite web sites and forums

Shit, Kirk has escaped!

A brillliant reenactment of Dark Souls PvP:

Those are pure gold.  The latter illustrates perfectly why I can hardly tolerate anything more than 24.9% encumbrance.  Somewhat on that note, just last night I had my favorite PvP encounter thus far.  

I was sitting with my back turned to the monitor, talking with my wife for a good ten minutes, when suddenly we heard this awful rumbling shaking from behind me.  Confused I picked up my phone to see who was calling me, and what infernal vibration mode I'd set it on.  Nothing.  Then the neurons in my brain switched back into game mode, and I realized that I, and my character, had just been backstabbed.  Deftly I dodged whatever words of annoyed protest my wife hurled my way, and scooped up my controller that had at this point rumbled its way off the desk and onto the floor.  

Back into combat position, I and my character grasped our weapons and prepared our response.  Roll, roll, estus, roll, estus, stare down.  How dare this cowardly interloper strike a Warrior of Sunlight so dishonorably?  What fool has drawn his...oh snap, is that a catalyst?  Dodge the crystal spear and cancel the internal RP session.  Whew.  Realizing I almost got one-shotted with my wife watching (oh, never mind, she's back to her screen), my mind raced to formulate a plan.  

"Hit him with your sword", the voice called in my head.  A cunning plan indeed.  Somehow anticipating my response, the coward began back peddling quickly.  As I closed the distance he loosed another soul spear, but I dove underneath.  Another, and another he fired, but to no avail, until I was upon him.  Slash, slash, slash, additional R1 spam, slash, take a soul mass to the face.  Having staggered me briefly, my foe turned his back and retreated down a long crumbling staircase, hiding himself behind a myriad of demons.  Clever, I thought, but my anger fully stoked would not allow this coward to escape my wrath.  Also, I haven't won a PvP match in ages, and this one's going better than most so far considering I'm still alive.  

So down the stair I run ignoring the blazing lava on either side and the demons passing by in a blur now gathering at my back.  Finally I reach the last step.  Hearing a familiar sound, I instinctively leap forward.  Dear God no!  Not the jump!  I wanted to roll forward!  A massive demon hammer slams me to the ground.  At the same time, a huge centipede bursts forth from below, inches to my right, ready to spew its acid and melt my weapon and armor.  My enemy stands near, overlooking the scene atop a small hill.  No way I'm going down like this.  Well, it's certainly possible; God knows it's happened before.

No!  Not like this.  My character slowly gets up, brushes off, all while the massive Taurus demon raises his hammer for the killing blow.  A couple of ribs probably broken, a few hairs out of place, she checks her watch, and finally I get control.  Roll forward, roll forward, run.  Lock on target, throw the shield over the back and two hand that katana like a boss.  Close distance!  Ram that thing right through his gut and out the other side!  WOOOOOOOOOOOO!  I win!  I win!  

My wife asks, "you won"?
"Yeah, check me out!"

Demon hammer.  Death.  Totally worth it.

EDIT:  My Character

Hah that is awesome BlueLogic. My best recent PvP memory is probably as follows:

I am in the Forest performing invasions in my Lord's Blade Ciaran set. I had, had a few fun one on one fights before that, but this time was different. I enter and immediately see a player and his two Sunbro friends moving towards me.

I turn tail immediately, trying to keep distance as I pelt them with poison arrows I get of some good hits, but these guys were well prepared with Purple Moss leaving my attempts futile.

My mind racing for a solution I started seeking out the enemies of the forest to aid me. The Forest Hunter NPC's were dead, but the two giant mushroom people were there and with them by my side i turned on my assailants.

But again my enemies were ready, hanging back and using Lightning Spear to kill my aid, forcing another quick retreat.

As I crossed over the lower bridge in the area i get the message that a Forest Hunter has arrived to aid me and I meet up with him near the living tree creatures. At this point my pursuers seemed quite annoyed as they abandoned the past caution in favor of a direct charge upon me and my friend.

My friend and I fell back as the tree creatures started to swarm the enemy. Once 4-5 of them were over them me and my friend attacked.

My friend went straight for the host, seeking to take him out with his Lifehunt Scythe, but one sunbro stuck to him and fought of my friend.

But the other sunbro had gotten separated and was grabbed by the tree creatures as he tried to fight them of. Coming out of the grab i was read for him, circling him and plunging the Silver Tracer into his back, ending him.

Turning to the remaining two I assaulted them in adeadly dance with my Gold Tracer and managing to get of a single bleed. But they stood their ground, the other sunbro getting of a Tranquil Walk of Peace which quickly saw the end of my friend as he was overwhelmed by two fast moving opponents.

Once again I retreated, this time descending the ladder leading down to the river and onwards towards the Hydra, though a fog wall blocked of that area. But there was still a stone pillar with only narrow stretch to pass it.

I watched as my pursuers descended using the camera angle to watch as they walked onto the narrow strip and to my pleasure I saw the host walk in front. The moment he passed the pillar I was ready, kicking him of the edge and into the raging river ending his life and the invasion.

Not honorable or glorious, but a deadly fight which I loved every moment of.

Raistlin Majere wrote:Not honorable or glorious, but a deadly fight which I loved every moment of.

  Wow. That is EPIC.

I've only been in a few fights that featured more than two players. 3 vs 2 in the forest would be amazing fun. I'll have to put down my sign sometime after I beat Sif.

LOL...kicked him into the river. That's awesome.

Here's your new sig: "Not honorable or glorious, yet still...victorious."  

BlueLogic wrote:

Raistlin Majere wrote:Not honorable or glorious, but a deadly fight which I loved every moment of.

  Wow.  That is EPIC.  

I've only been in a few fights that featured more than two players.  3 vs 2 in the forest would be amazing fun.  I'll have to put down my sign sometime after I beat Sif.

LOL...kicked him into the river.  That's awesome.  

Here's your new sig:  "Not honorable or glorious, yet still...victorious."     

Heh, yeah i guess that would fit me quite well, in more ways than one.

To elaborate my most often played alignment within the Dungeons and Dragons alignment system is Chaotic/Good. A person who disregards things such as honor or law if he feels they restrict him, but who also ultimately wants to do good.

As such when i play an RPG I will use questionable methods, such a poison or backstabs even when playing a good character and it generally translates into my tactics in PvP games as well. Sure I wont outright cheat or hack to gain an advantage, but I will use whatever means the game offers me to defeat my opponent even if that means things others might consider cheap.

Glad you liked the other pictures! Here are a few more