1 Name: Maru : 2016-10-25 20:21 ID:jvgBn7KB (Image: 765x1161 jpg, 373 kb) [Del]
I...love...this...series.
For those who want a bit of backstory on the series...and then talk about the games themselves.
"In the beginning, there was nothing, the world ruled by the ancient dragons in an age of grey. And then, one day, deep underground, there was fire.
From the first flame, the Gods were born, and light and dark were created. Four beings were given the souls of great lords from the flame: Gwyn, the Lord of Sunlight; Nito, the First of the Dead; The Witch of Izalith and her Daughters of Chaos; and, finally, the Furtive Pygmy, who was so easily forgotten...
The Lords launched a crusade against the Dragons above, aided by the traitorous Paledreak, Seathe the Scaleless. Seathe taught Gwyn of their stone scales, which gave the Dragons their power, and so Gwyn and his Silver Knights created and hurled bolts of lightning, stripping their scales from them. Nito concocted disease and death to weaken the dragons, and the Witches of Chaos conjured great firestorms to burn their archtrees, their homes. With the fall of the dragons came the beginning of the Age of Fire, and the age of the Gods.
However, the Pygmy huddled alone, deep underground. The Pygmy was the owner of the Dark Soul, and as the other lords fought their wars above, the Pygmy split his soul into many smaller souls, and from the Dark Soul came Humans, beings of The Dark. The Humans were afflicted with the darksign, the brand of the Undead, and with the coming of the end of the Age of Fire came the Undead Curse, which plagued all civilization. Following the Curse came the spreading of the Abyss, and just as all flames must eventually die and give way to darkness, so would the Age of Fire give way to an Age of Darkness..."
This is where Dark Souls starts; the first game, from 2011, followed the quest of the Chosen Undead, who, in exodus from the Undead Asylum, must make pilgrimage to the land of ancient lords, Lordran, in order to learn the fate of the undead and fulfill and ancient prophecy. The game was where it all began (unless you started with Demon's Souls beforehand), giving a name to the series with its very difficult, yet rewarding gameplay, well-designed world, and JOLLY CO-OPERATION...and did I mention memes? It was my first game in the series and I would highly recommend it.
"Just as every flame must fade, a new flame will spark with time, in a never-ending cycle."
Dark Souls II takes place many millenia after Dark Souls, set in the Kingdom of Drangleic, The Chosen Undead explores the ruins of many kingdoms which came before, and work to bring order to the land as it crumbles with the coming Age of Dark, an to usurp the throne of the fallen King.
Dark Souls III, the current game, follows the Champion of Ash in a crumbling world in which the new Lord of Cinder has refused to link the fire and bring a new age, and thus in desperation, the lords of old are being resurrected to bring an age of fire as they had before. It is up to the Champion of Ash to defeat the old lords and claim the title of Lord of Cinder for themselves.
All three games follow the came basic formula, and have the same gameplay for the most part, although all three are also quite unique. For one, the second game introduced new gameplay mechanics for PvP, new weapon types and move sets, and was known for duel-wielding. While it's considered the weakest in the series by many, I personally think it stands its ground well against the other two games. The third game added "weapon arts", as well as new damage types, and radically different PvE and PvP mechanics. It's first expansion, Ashes of Ariendel, just launched.
So, anyone else play these games? I LOVE these games, and I've been Souls-crazy for years. I fell in love with the first game after a brutal beginning, and while I think the game IS difficult, it's not as brutal and enraging as it's made out to be...once you get into it. It will destroy new players, but once they figure out what tactics work, and learn how to dodge and handle their weapons well, the game is easier; It's a challenge, but it IS easier.
