[Megathread] Dark Souls 3

[Shinzai]

Ummm no. Bloodborne is a Bloodborne game.

There is nothing in its lore or really anything thats related to Dark Souls. The only thing the two series have related is some combat animations and both can be hard.

The terminology has been "Soulsborne" since Bloodborne came out.

After all, there's Demon Souls, Dark Souls and Bloodborne. They're 3 separate games, but they all share extremely common and consistent ground, with shared/similar gameplay styles, visuals, design ethics, story telling methods, mechanics and so on.

[Jtbrig7390]

The terminology has been "Soulsborne" since Bloodborne came out.

After all, there's Demon Souls, Dark Souls and Bloodborne. They're 3 separate games, but they all share extremely common and consistent ground, with shared/similar gameplay styles, visuals, design ethics, story telling methods, mechanics and so on.

That doesn't make them the same game.

There is alot of things in common from one Zelda game to the next zelda game but Skyward Sword isn't Majora's Mask.

[Poppincaps]

So some negative things I picked up from the reviews I read that I actually give a shit about.

1. Game is about the same as Bloodborne in terms of linearity. Not horrible but it basically means that we'll probably never see Dark Souls 1 level of interconnectedness again. At this point I feel like there may be a technical reason for it or something.

2. Framerate sucks dick on PS4 and even on PC

3. Maybe a lack of variety of environments like in Bloodborne

While the interconnectivity of the world is diasppointing, one of the reasons it was so awesome in Dark Souls 1 is you could acquire so much different gear from the moment you reach fire link shrine if you knew where to go. It seems like Dark Souls 3 showers you with awesome weapons so this may not be that big of an issue.

Sucks that none of the reviews delved into the PvP or the covenants.

[Shinzai]

That doesn't make them the same game.

There is alot of things in common from one Zelda game to the next zelda game but Skyward Sword isn't Majora's Mask.

But they are all part of the Zelda franchise.

[Deleted]

I know TB showed that the framerate was okay, except for on the options screens where it was a laughable 12fps or there-abouts.
Oddly, this only happened when in windowed mode.
There is a patch on release though isn`t there?

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Has anyone played Cleric (or a caster class)?
I see the new charged weapon costs mana to use it. Combine that with the new mana/estus flasks thing, I don`t think I like the idea of Cleric (or casters) much at all now..

Also, seems the Mace is even worse than it was in DSII.

(obvious spoilers in this link).

There does seem to be a big lack of casters playing or I`m just not seeing them in search results
Guess everyone is sticking to melee as per usual.

[Poppincaps]

I know TB showed that the framerate was okay, except for on the options screens where it was a laughable 12fps or there-abouts.
Oddly, this only happened when in windowed mode.
There is a patch on release though isn`t there?

----------------------------

Has anyone played Cleric (or a caster class)?
I see the new charged weapon costs mana to use it. Combine that with the new mana/estus flasks thing, I don`t think I like the idea of Cleric (or casters) much at all now..

Also, seems the Mace is even worse than it was in DSII.

(obvious spoilers in this link).

There does seem to be a big lack of casters playing or I`m just not seeing them in search results
Guess everyone is sticking to melee as per usual.

Polygon said that the FPS drops on PS4 were happening with the Day One patch installed.

[Djriff]

But only a blind fool would deny it really isn't. It's a souls game.

You misunderstood me. Yes it plays like a souls game but isn't part of the souls universe. There's a lot of connection between the 4 souls games and none of it is in Bloodborne.

There is alot of things in common from one Zelda game to the next zelda game but Skyward Sword isn't Majora's Mask.

Well to be fair, the Zelda series has an extremely convoluted timeline. All of the games are linked together.

So some negative things I picked up from the reviews I read that I actually give a shit about.

1. Game is about the same as Bloodborne in terms of linearity. Not horrible but it basically means that we'll probably never see Dark Souls 1 level of interconnectedness again. At this point I feel like there may be a technical reason for it or something.

2. Framerate sucks dick on PS4 and even on PC

3. Maybe a lack of variety of environments like in Bloodborne

While the interconnectivity of the world is diasppointing, one of the reasons it was so awesome in Dark Souls 1 is you could acquire so much different gear from the moment you reach fire link shrine if you knew where to go. It seems like Dark Souls 3 showers you with awesome weapons so this may not be that big of an issue.

Sucks that none of the reviews delved into the PvP or the covenants.

1. I doubt it's a technical reason, Dark Souls may have just been a stroke of genius. I'm fine if it's linear, as long as it keeps me interested. Bloodborne didn't have the problem with me.

2. It can't be any worse than Bloodborne when you co-op and the whole system lags when a bunch of things happen.

3. I'll wait until I can play it before I chime in on this.

You can still acquire a bunch of gear in early DS2 and Bloodborne. The main issue is knowing where to get it all. Hopefully DS3 has more options available, but I'm ok if it doesn't.

[Deleted]

Polygon said that the FPS drops on PS4 were happening with the Day One patch installed.

In that case, they really need to get their act together fast.
I can only imagine the lynching afterwards when all those that pre-ordered find the game is a mess lol.

[Jtbrig7390]

But they are all part of the Zelda franchise.

Ok point is.

Bloodborne is its own Franchise and its unrelated to Dark Souls. Hell Demon's Souls isn't even in the same universe as the other souls games. Just because games have something in common with each other doesn't mean they are related.

- - - Updated - - -

Well to be fair, the Zelda series has an extremely convoluted timeline. All of the games are linked together.

That is true but like I have said Bloodborne isn't the same game as Dark Souls/Demon's Souls. The games have things in common but are not in the same universe.

[Djriff]

Ok point is.

Bloodborne is its own Franchise and its unrelated to Dark Souls. Hell Demon's Souls isn't even in the same universe as the other souls games. Just because games have something in common with each other doesn't mean they are related.

- - - Updated - - -

That is true but like I have said Bloodborne isn't the same game as Dark Souls/Demon's Souls. The games have things in common but are not in the same universe.

Oh no, I agree with you! However I have my own theories regarding Bloodborne and the Souls universe.

[Tech614]

Polygon said that the FPS drops on PS4 were happening with the Day One patch installed.

Polygon doesn't know what they're talking about. Not that the game doesn't have frame drops, it does in one certain area but like 95% of the game is 30 fps. Where Polygon doesn't know what they're talking about is they're confusing bad frame pacing for fps drops. DS3 suffers from the same frame pacing issues of Bloodborne, if you didn't notice it there you won't here if you did notice it there you will here.

[Djriff]

Polygon doesn't know what they're talking about. Not that the game doesn't have frame drops, it does it one certain area but like 95% of the game is 30 fps. Where Polygon doesn't know what they're talking about is they're confusing bad frame pacing for fps drops. DS3 suffers from the same frame pacing issues of Bloodborne, if you didn't notice it there you won't here if you did notice it there you will here.

Bit off topic, but can you explain the difference?

[Tech614]

Bit off topic, but can you explain the difference?

Stealing this from the DF breakdown of bloodborne

Though its 30fps average is technically correct, Bloodborne often produces two unique frames followed by two duplicates – rather than one after another – creating a perception of frame-rate drops throughout. It’s not smooth in motion at all as a result, and frame-time updates swing erratically between 16ms and 66ms – and sometimes higher. It’s an unfortunate oversight by From Software.

So while the game is technically 30 fps most of the time, some people will notice what they perceive as frame drops and some won't. If you noticed it in bloodborne you're gonna notice it in DS3.

[Djriff]

Ah, I thought that's what it was but I wasn't sure. I've noticed it, but really only when I co-op to steam roll through areas.

[dope_danny]

Just asking - folks know Demon's Souls and Dark Souls are not connected universes right?

People seem to think that its more connected than bloodborne when its different. Dark Souls was a new universe because of sonys exclusivity agreements. If you have some weird internal reasoning that makes bloodborne not a souls game then the same applies to demons. Boletaria and lothric are not the same place and theres no first flame or pygmy in the world of demons.
Its final fantasy, different worlds with similar terms and very similar gameplay but separate universes. dark 1 was the second game in the series, bloodborne was the 4th but they are all still a series just not all interconnected, until DS3 was announced DS2 was the only game touching on one that came before it in any fashion but gameplay.

[Tech614]

Ah, I thought that's what it was but I wasn't sure. I've noticed it, but really only when I co-op to steam roll through areas.

Bloodborne actually did drop below 30 fps when you cooped though, that wasn't just frame pacing

[Erolian]

This might be one of the most asinine arguments I've ever read lol. All of the Souls games and BB have more in common than most Final Fantasy or Zelda games do with their entire series. They're all basically the exact same formula built by more or less the same people. It takes some pretty extreme mental acrobatics to treat them as entirely different series or w/e.

Back to DS3 though. I'm really hoping we see a boss HP patch and some more performance increases leading up to release. A good analogy I saw for the first 5 or 6 bosses is that they have beautiful mechanics and fight like Ornstein and Smough but die like Pinwheel (really fast) so they don't even see the full move set of some bosses.

[Jtbrig7390]

This might be one of the most asinine arguments I've ever read lol. All of the Souls games and BB have more in common than most Final Fantasy or Zelda games do with their entire series. They're all basically the exact same formula built by more or less the same people. It takes some pretty extreme mental acrobatics to treat them as entirely different series or w/e.

Once again you can have alot of things in common that does not make them the same game.

Each Final Fantasy besides sequals are different games. Final Fantasy 7 isn't the same as Final Fantasy 1. Just like Bloodborne isn't the same as Demon's Souls or Dark Souls.

But Demon's Souls/Dark Souls and Bloodborne is there own series. The universe's are not connected in anyway "Unlike Final Fantasy". Seeing how Sony owns two of those titles they have to be different series anyway.

There is no lore that connects the three series together "Unlike Final Fantasy"

[Djriff]

I think you're misunderstanding. From a gameplay standpoint they share almost everything. From a lore standpoint, not so much. There's not a lot linking DS1 and DS2, but there are some things/areas that help a lot of theories along. Hopefully DS3 sheds more light on this.

[Shinzai]

Once again you can have alot of things in common that does not make them the same game.

Each Final Fantasy besides sequals are different games. Final Fantasy 7 isn't the same as Final Fantasy 1. Just like Bloodborne isn't the same as Demon's Souls or Dark Souls.

But Demon's Souls/Dark Souls and Bloodborne is there own series. The universe's are not connected in anyway "Unlike Final Fantasy". Seeing how Sony owns two of those titles they have to be different series anyway.

There is no lore that connects the three series together "Unlike Final Fantasy"

Right, I see what you're misunderstanding now. When he said 'Souls series', he literally did mean the From games as a whole - Demon/Dark Souls + Bloodborne. They're considered a 'series' in the way I expressed earlier. That doesn't mean they're a part of the same world or anything, just a series of games with extreme similarities that are liked pretty much 100% by the same group of people.

And just to clarify, From Software have stated repeatedly themselves that there's no in-world link between the Dark/Demon/Blood games. Dark Souls has some continuity, though Dark Souls 2 almost made itself a separate project altogether, kind of like Silent Hill 2 vs Silent Hill 1 + 3.

However, just do a quick Google search for 'Soulsborne' and you'll instantly find people comparing all the titles listed, ranking them on the same scale and discussing which one had the best characters/PVE/PVP and so on. That's why I consider them a series, despite the lack of in-game ties.