Dark Souls 2

[AndyKurosaki]

Nah, the Pursuer only spawns once in that boss room only. Go back to his area in Forest and he's not there. Definetly kill him again in Iron Keep, he drops a Ring Of Blades+1. Killed him first time, after the frigging Smelter Demon he was a piece of piss.

As for the Old Iron King boss, he's not that hard, Smelter is way, way tougher. That woman you met in Harvest Valley sells a Flame Quartz ring that increases your fire defense. Other than that, wait for a slow attack to miss you, and punish him for it. You can do it :-)

[radiofloyd]

The next time I fought the Old Iron King I was able to summon two helpers and I just hid in the corner. I hit him once and his fire breath nearly knocked me into the lava. So I said to hell with that and ran around the side of the building.

Right now I just made it to the bonfire in Drangleic Castle. This area looks like it's going to be pretty epic. I consumed all my boss souls because I don't really give a shit about boss weapons at this stage. I raised my faith to 22 so I could use lightning spear - 444 damage with a Cleric's Chime and 10 uses! Currently level 135.

[radiofloyd]

Went back and beat the Belfry Gargoyles on my first attempt - it was one of those fights where the longer I survived and the more of them I picked off I was thinking - "holy shit this will never go this smoothly again, I need to win this one time". Luckily I always seemed to be able to run away and heal with my estus. They went down pretty easy, it was only afterwards I realised I fought them with my Dragonrider Halberd +3, not my Halberd +10.

I've spent the last few hours going through Drangleic Castle, it's pretty short really. I beat both bosses first time through with help. Lightning Spear really is brilliant.

Currently in the Shrine of Amana.

[Hendo]

There is an NPC summon in the Shrine, definitely helps.

[AndyKurosaki]

Good luck in the Shrine, I fucking hated that area.So easy to fall to your death in deep water. And constant Soul Arrow bombardments from mages. I had my crossbow, but trying to aim at one while being shot at by at least 2 other mages was a ballache.

The area after that though was well worth fighting for.

[radiofloyd]

That guy I was playing Dark Souls with, he's 13 and he's from Alabama. His favourite word is "niglet".

I didn't realise you could have multiple simultaneous characters until he told me. He asked me to start a new one so we could play the game in co-op. So I created a cleric...with strong sorcery leanings. Magic is fun. I've been spamming great soul arrow. We actually beat The Pursuer in his one time appearance on the rooftop which was pretty cool. In one evening we've beaten The Last Giant, The Pursuer and the Ruin Sentinels and done a load of leveling up. My cleric is level 53.

I'm not sure how much further we'll go with it. I need to back off on the game a little, I've other things to do and organise! Mainly revise my Japanese.

[radiofloyd]

Went back to my main character. Played through the Shrine of Amana and a fair chunk of the Undead Crypt.

The Shrine of Amana is annoying as hell. The area after the third bonfire (Rhoy's Resting Place I think) with the NPC invasion is a pain in the ass, so I just ran past them to safety. Luckily I had two phantoms for the frog boss. After that, there was two paths but the tower to the right had a locked door, so I went down the elevator to the Undead Crypt.

I made it to the first bonfire and from there to the room with the NPC invasion (I swear the Nameless Usurper has invaded me before) and the tunnel with two huge guys with shields at the end, killed them and then dropped into the pit in the next room. I tried to find the exit but unfortunately ran down two dead ends. Some very ominous bells started tolling and I got raped by about 9 phantoms down one of the tunnels.

[AndyKurosaki]

The Shrine is by far and away the most annoying area in the entire game. Absolutely hated it.

[radiofloyd]

Well I finished the Undead Crypt and picked up the King's Ring. I fought the optional boss there a few times but he's very tough.

I used the ring to open the three doors. In the Forest of Fallen Giants I found nothing but a dead tree. In Drangleic Castle I beat the boss in the Throne of Want, and in the Shaded Woods I found a place called Aldia's Keep, which is where I'll be heading next...

[AndyKurosaki]

I can't beat that optional Undead Crypt boss, keeps destroying me.

Sorry to say you're very near the end now.

[radiofloyd]

When I'm finished I'll try to put down some coherent thoughts about the game.

I think my memory of Dark Souls 2 will be the fun I had with the multiplayer.

[Hendo]

You'll be returning to the dead tree.

[radiofloyd]

I beat Aldia's Keep and have now just been toasted to a crisp in Dragon Aerie.

I had seen the skeleton come to life in a trailer so I ran past him (in Aldia's Keep), I thought it was a boss fight but I guess it was just a trap. Luckily I summoned a phantom at the entrance so he helped through the whole area, fighting all the trolls and chameleons and that annoying sorcerer Navlaan who I freed. I didn't find the second bonfire though, and he left at the boss door (I got that "duty completed" message for whatever reason) so I was reluctant to fight the boss on my own! Luckily a summon sign showed up and we won.

I think I need a fire resistance ring before I go back to Dragon Aerie. The first dragon I met was on top of the cave with the dragon eggs, I quickly ran away. Then I crossed a few more rope bridges and came to a clifftop area with at least two dragons sitting down. There was a tunnel around the side but I must have aggro'd them because their fire breath killed me through the wall...

[AndyKurosaki]

Those Dragons aren't too bad really, they're exactly the same as the one you defeated to get to the Aerie. It's worth knowing they don't respawn, there's 3 of them, and you fight them one at a time.

I got right to one's legs, hacked away melée style, and legged it when it took off and breathed fire. Then repeated till dead.

There's also a fair few Crystal Lizards where each one hangs out...

[Hendo]

Yup, stick by the legs.

[radiofloyd]

Sorry to say you're very near the end now.

Little did I know how close - I finished it! Just under 70 hours, 640/1000 GS.

Although to time I put in is comparable to Dark Souls (if not longer!), the two experiences were very different.

Dark Souls is one of my favourite games of this generation, I'm not sure where Dark Souls 2 fits in.

For me Dark Souls 2 is defined by the online co-op, I spent a lot of time with other players. Even though I joined the Sunlight Covenant late in the game I still obtained 20 something sunlight medals. And if I come back, it will probably be for that reason.

But co-op is also one of I would say three things that make Dark Souls 2 much easier, the other two being having the experience of how to play the game from Dark Souls, and the dramatic shortening of levels, particularly the distance between bonfires.

Ultimately the comparisons boil down to Lordran versus Drangleic. Drangleic might be prettier, but it's Lordran that's burned into my memory. It makes me think of Fallout: New Vegas and Fallout 3 - the component pieces are the same, but the soul (cough) is different - or is it just impossible to have the same intense experience twice?

Dark Souls 2 is a lot of fun, but something tells me that Dark Souls is a much better game. That's my gut feeling.

[AndyKurosaki]

I'm just starting DS1 myself, so it'll be interesting to see how they compare. Dark Souls 2 is the first in the series I've properly gotten into, and it's definitely one of my favourite games on PS3.

[Uncle Dokuro]

This video is hilarious. The guy or girl trolls the people who invade his or hers game.

[radiofloyd]

Deviously punishing action adventure Dark Souls 2 is getting three pieces of DLC entitled The Lost Crowns trilogy.

Set in all new areas with a new slew of enemy types and bosses to best, this trilogy will begin with Crown of the Sunken King on 22nd July for PC and Xbox 360 and the following day for PS3. Episode 2, Crown of the Old Iron King, launches 26th and 27th August on the same platforms, while the final chapter, Crown of the Ivory King, is due on 23rd and 24th September.

A Season Pass launches today on PS3 and PC.

The narrative basis behind these expansions is that you're setting off to reclaim three crowns formerly owned by Drangleic's King Vendrick. Crown of the Sunken King will be set in an expansive underground lair littered with stepped pyramids. The titular crown purportedly "holds the strength of lords from times long past" and publisher Namco Bandai claimed that this debut episode makes up "one of the more difficult levels developed by From Software."

Crown of the Old Iron King is set amid a "massive tower engulfed by black mist, where flames, smoke & sorcery lurk" where you must "navigate paths that are not what the appear to be."

Finally, Crown of the Ivory King is set in an "ancient temple wrung with freezing storms, towering walls and a hollowing emptiness." Enemies in this wintry climate will specialise in freezing abilities and low visibility.

Get a glimpse of Crown of the Sunken King in its debut trailer below.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-06-04-dark-souls-2-to-receive-three-part-episodic-dlc

Cool. Hopefully there won't be any faffing about with accessing the dlc like there was with AotA.

[AndyKurosaki]

Bit bemused by people hating the dlc for this. It's a brilliant game, fantastic in fact. More content can only be a good thing in my opinion.