RE: "RE: 'In Defense of Dark Souls 2'" - Nitpicks
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- čas přidán 7. 06. 2024
- Throughout his video he tries to convince people that DS2 is a bad game for having the same issues as the other Souls games.
Ring Descriptions 0:00
Weapon Upgrading 1:43
Weapon Hitbox 10:37
Hole 12:57
Attacking NPC 13:43
Petrified Statues 17:27
Flying Enemies 19:27
Non-Standard Enemy AI 20:53
Boss Music 22:25
Fun fact, btw. Undead soldiers in Forest of fallen giants actually all looking up, like their neck been broken. They all died in the war, looking up on their enemies, because giants much higher than humans.
I like to believe they're starting at the Pursuer flying above 😊
Wow, really? There had to be the reason why they were like that. After knowing this game for so long, finding this out is like cherry on the top.
Do they still do that after you defeat Pursuer? I thought it was because he was flying around.
No, it's their default animation, as far as I remember.
Trying to frame ds2's generous amount of upgrade materials as a *negative* is actually insane to me
"Why yes, I would like to have a smaller, weaker less varied arsenal. That is what I want please!"
MauLer when he has to make a choice which weapon to upgrade: that's objectively good, because Souls games should let you make mistakes
MauLer when he has to make a choice which Petrified Statue to unpetrify: that's objectively bad, because Souls games should not punish your mistakes
@@Domo3000 Also on the topic of upgrade materials, I really like how in ds2's Dragon Aerie, an endgame area, you have an optional side path that's challenging but ultimately fair (and pretty straightforward once you figure it out) that rewards you with all kinds of upgrade materials, some infusion stones, as well as a respawnable bonfire ascetic.
It's around 6-7 chunks, twinklings and dragon bones *each* PLUS a slab per run. No RNG, just learning the area (aka getting good) and traversing a progressively numerically harder version of the same area. It's still grinding, but it's such an objectively better way of handling material grinding than DS1's method that I struggle to complain; at one point I even started to enjoy the dragon aerie go-around.
To me it feels like the devs acknowledging that yes, getting to upgrade the cool weapons is cool and you should be rewarded for getting to endgame and exploring side areas.
People have heavily mythologized DS1's unfinished and often mean-spirited design.
The baffling thing too is that having slabs means nothing if you don't have the other types of titanite first. The game progression still exists, and it is even better than DS1. In the first game, I can without any exploits get my weapon up to +5 within the undead burg AND also have all the large titanite needed to go at +10. The only thing that stops me, which I personally find more frustrating, is the large ember that prevents me from upgrading my normal sword.
@@larrywalker1371 "You see. Dark souls 1 being shitty is actually deepest lore. I swear."
So he and his friend has the information that the scorpion npc gives a fragrant branch but not the information that he needs to talk to him after killing Najka? Truly an inteligent being.
This is why I don't understand how anyone can take him seriously as a critic if they are anyway experienced with the subject he critiques about. It's so obvious his deliberately making shit up
ThEy DrOp TiTaNiTe SlAbS? ThIs GaMe.
Yeah I don't get the complaint either, low drop rates are a pain in any game. There's also like a hundred weapons, you want more drops!
@@NobleAbsintheno you see it's very simple, logical and objectively true that if the other Souls games require you to farm for hours that's good game design, but if DS2 respects your time and makes it easier to farm them that's bad game design because DS2 bad.
@@Domo3000 lol just goes to show this whole response was just the inverse of Hbombs video. Tbh neither video represents ds2 well.
But anyway ,like one of my favorite series is Monster Hunter and I deal with there 2% drop rate shenanigans. It does hit a dopamine rush when you FINALLY GET IT. I mean I wouldn't mind always getting the drops either though.
The dopamine hit isn't there for DS.it's just killing the same mob and doing the exact same experience. So I was really confused on why they were acting as if getting a rare drop was bad. Like I'm trying to imagine a devils advocate argument but it's really silly lol.
@Domo3000 Seriously, Bloodborne was so stupid in its design to make materials so fucking rare, like you have all these cool weapons, most that can only be gotten at the endgame, yet I must stick with the same early game weapons that I don't like and waste upgrades on? Also it sucks extra balls that you must get a PS+ subscription so you can use the player made chalice Dungeons to get late game weapons and good blood gems earlier.
@@Domo3000 iirc he also complained that DS2 has more levels and more tit slabs allowing greater build variety, because in his opinion, DS1, a game where you are basically locked into 1 buiild the whole game, is "better designed"
you heard it from mauler everyone, RPG having variety bad
I love how people ignore the fact that you can also upgrade armor in DS2. Its almost like you get an absolutely massive amount of materials for more than just your big sword.
And it's hella easy to farm slabs at those stone warriors in Drangleic Castle. You can literally max all weapons and armors in the game if you have the patience to do so. Cool, isn't it?
You can also upgrade armor in DS1. Good luck maxing out your armor in that game LOL
@@wolfy2469 Eh, just dupe glitch and you're good to go. It's not like the game isn't already broken from the purchase.
@@user-qd5lb7qr8z dupe glitch or not it's still dumb
@@wolfy2469 Yeah, wasn't trying to justify it.
Complaining about being locked out of a single optional key item for killing an NPC is driving me fucking insane. This is literally somethig that you can do in every fromsoft game with killable NPCs ever fucking made like these are the consequences of your actions man. I don't get it.
It shows the irony of souls "veterans" who love to praise how non hand holding the games are, yet being pissed when their actions get consequences
+ the fact that you can get the reward even after killing him. You know... the mechanic that many DS vet tard don't like because it's so forgiving
@@YEY0806 I think you are missing what MauLer is actually doing here: He is MALICIOUS, he is deliberately trying to make arguments against the game and is deliberately trying to portray it in a bad light.
This is why a lot of his complaints seem so strange and ridiculous, like "Well the music cuts off abruptly when i kill a boss!!!!" or "If go in to this area BACKWARDS, the enemies don't react properly", it's all scraping the barrel for complaints, like if you are a propagandist for the losing side in a war, so you have to make ridiculous stuff up to appease your citizens.
@@YEY0806 please, do not put us on the same sack as him, i implore you
@jorge4572 of course, it's just that I notice that whenever a CZcamsr calls themselves a souls "veterans", 9/10 they don't know what the fuck they are talking about
How in the fuck is missing an important but not required item (save for just one) even a DS2-exclusive complaint, or a SotFS complaint?
Guess i can complain to him now how i can't get Soul Spear DS1 since i accidentally killed Big Hat Logan.
Yeah i never got why people thought the music cut-off was solely DS2 either.
But i guess it's funny in DS2 because...B-team?
It's not like in ds3 you can't lose access to half the standard weapons just because you miss an npc or 2.
The death animation finishes playing before the music cuts out in the other games, but still… what a non-issue.
In DS1 the music cuts but gets overridden by the text prompt that says you defeated the boss, DS2 does it right when you nail the final blow. It's just a timing difference, and I like DS2's approach more, but ultimately it's a subjective thing that nobody should put in a critique. Oh wait, it's a defense.
...how does one kill big hat by accident?
Don't tell him about Snake people running past you in Dukes Archives in DS1. He might think DS1 is actualy a shitty game.
What a crazy idea lol
Sorry Domo, I can't bring myself to finish this.
Mauler must be the worst ds2 detractor yet.
It's like the man woke up one day and decided to hate ds2, but he did not know why, so now he retroactively looks for the dumbest reasons to justify his hate.
Small preview for the next video: he complains that being able to teleport from the start is objectively bad, but says that it's okay in DS3 as it is a lot less linear than DS2.
@@Domo3000"lot less linear than DS2" 😂😂😂.
Mauler is certainly a verified clown. How can anyone believe him this much?
@@YEY0806 most of his fans are from after him dunking on the easy target of tlj. They then retroactively assume his prior takes and future ones must be good. As one of the people noticing him earlier (before I had an active account) he was always hit or miss.
honestly I think most ppl googled the four kings shit. I did too. The game REALLY does not tell u a goddamn thing
Technically you could remember that this hole is the Abyss and make the connection if you happened to read the description. Technically - not realistically.
On the other hand, you could also assume that this is just a Souls game pulling one of their unfair tricks on you by locking you into a room where the only way out is death.
The 4 Kings came as late as possible because I just couldn't figure out what to do there
Ingward (with whom the player is required to interact) explains you require the power of Artorias to traverse the Abyss
I had a "friend" tell me what to do as I was in that area (annoying). It's annoying because I think I would have figured it out
I feel the same way about people who see you doing a blind run of a game, and after ONE boss death they start backseating. Someone did this with Wolnir, and Curse Rotted Greatwood instantly telling me what their weakness / gimmick is. Same with the hallway to Veldstat some dude instantly was like "dude just kill the skeletons ringing the bell under the stairs" instantly.
^Like fk off I would have figured all these things out myself and I don't care how long it would have taken
@@Domo3000i could have sworn dont you get a message like "the abyss consumes you" or something or is that a fever dream
19:28 the most "it has wings, use it" moment in video game history is in Horizon. There is a crocodile mech that cannot go in the water. You know that crocodiles didn’t evolved in MILLIONS of years just because they're so good at what they do ? And it's to be in the water !
It's not so much a problem these days but DS1 mythologizers used to spread so much bad critique and revisionist history it was astounding.
It felt so alienating when DS3 released and the majority of the fan base treated it like a clear upgrade from the previous entry just because so much of its runtime was DS1 worship and nostalgia with bloodborne's pacing.
I love DS1 but DS3 is such a boring ass game
@@mccad00 so im not the only one, i replay DS 1 and DS 2 several times but can only play DS 3 once lol
@@mccad00 Because rolling and R1 spam is the undisputed best playstyle for the whole game. At least you can mix things up to keep it interesting in the other games.
I like ds3 way less than 2 only reason to play it is for the mods but even then i just got seeker of fire on ds2 and loving it
@@larrywalker1371DS3 objectively speaking was an upgrade to the Souls gameplay. Even if you don't like it you should recognize that it improved all of the play style the others 2 had
MauLer just comes off as insatiable in his criticism. He derides the abundance of titanite slabs because they rob the player of meaningful choice, but he complains about the petrified statues because…they give the player meaningful choice?
If my life depended on MauLer being consistent in his DS2 critique, I’d be sad because I’d miss my family and I’d miss watching Domo’s videos.
Mauler can’t even complain about the correct upgrade material. Now where did I put that Titanite Chunk?
He really killed the npc and blamed the game for missing the quest, I don't know how anyone falls for his crap
He just sounds confident enough about what he's saying, so people just... accept it. If there's one thing souls storytelling's taught me is that the human mind is a feeble thing.
@@Maurricent objectivity is convoluted
@@Maurricentbasically it all comes down to how close you sound to Vatti, the closer it is, the more gullible people are because "no way the sexy voice can be wrong"
I mean people also think he is not a right wing anti-woke movie critic so beats me
Because he's not? He interacts regularly with very left wing people like Jay exci, one of the hosts (fringy) is a self described social liberal. When questioned on women's from "the right" they obfuscate all but denying that it even exists. For all his faults in criticism anyone trying to label him far left or far right is really only revealing they are the opposite.
“As it is easier to farm twinkling titanite”
Gets munched on by a crystal clam mid sentence😂
the number one reason why i nver played DS1 after the first time, is i have no clue how upgrading is really supposed to work. I also love how DS2 lest me experimant with so many different weapons in a single playtrough.
ds2 > ds1
Agreed on that one. DS1's weapon upgrade paths were overly complicated and not that rewarding compared to just using a special weapon. Definitely something they streamlined for a good reason.
Now try to follow a guide to the platinum trophy in that game and it's honestly aneurysm-inducing. (I'm still salty of having to beat that damn game like 3 times)
@@matheusmillion Most From Soft games require ~3 runs to get the platinum trophy. In Dark Souls 1, because you need 3 souls of Sif. In Dark Souls 2, you need to get to Wellager and buy the spells that you would only get as a reward in certain covenants. In Bloodborne you need to get the three different endings (Luckily, it can be done in different characters). In Sekiro, you need to farm enough XP to max out the skill tree. In AC6, you need 3 playthroughs to get to the third ending
Look, it's really simple
You can use regular materials to upgrade at any smith to +5. This includes unique weapons, which use a different type of upgrade material, and boss weapons (once you have them) which also have a special boss weapon upgrade material.
then you can either look for a special key item and give to the divine smith or :
use the basic magic material to make a faith scaling weapon at the divine smith, an intelligence scaling weapon at the magic smith and a fire elemental weapon at the fire smith, who is hidden in the catacombs, from where you can't easily go back if you don't have the lordvessel, at which point maybe you don't even want a fire weapon any more since it trades ALL stat scaling for additional fire damage. Keep in mind that while Magic and Fire are available from the get go, you need a special key item in order to unlock Divine upgrades at the Divine smith
you can upgrade weapons normally at the bonfire (if you have the smithbox) or at any smith until you reach the maximum level. "Ascending" the weapons to the next tier (i.e: a +5 into a +6 or a Fire or Divine etc..) requires you to go to the specific blacksmith which handles THAT specific upgrade path and may require that you find and give them a specific key item (an ember) that is used to unlock upgrade paths. These are specific to each upgrade path
If you do get the special key item for regular upgrades, you can either go to +10 or a "raw" up to +5 with the intermediate upgrade materials. Raw weapons gain base damage but lose out on scaling. These are both done with the divine smith
If your weapon is maxed out again, at any of these paths here are your new options for the ultimate weapon!!!:
If this is a regular weapon, you can look for another key item to unlock high tier regular upgrades at the divine smith OR there is actually a fourth, godly blacksmith! This smith can make your weapons into Lightning weapons (which again lose all stat scaling for extra elemental damage) or use boss souls in order to turn them into the special "boss weapons". Additionally, there is also yet another key item that unlocks "crystal" upgrades, which make your weapon extra strong but unrepairable. Again at the godly blacksmith. Lightning, Crystal and regular will use the high tier normal materials. Boss weapon use the special boss weapon upgrade material as mentioned. Regular tops at +15, Boss, Lightning and Crystal at +5 (they have like 10 "hidden" weapon levels)
If your weapon was Magic, scaling with intelligence, you need to give the Magic Blacksmith one of two special key items. One will allow them to be an advanced magical weapon, which goes to +10 while the other one unlocks the "Enchanted" upgrade path, which is the same idea but trades out some base damage and physical scaling for an even stronger focus on intelligence scaling for magic. These both use the "special magic upgrade" material and go to +10 magic or +5 enchanted
If, instead, your weapon was Fire, you once again have two choices. One new key item unlocks advanced fire upgrades, up to +10 and another, different key item, unlocks upgrades to
Chaos, which is similar to Fire but trades some base damage for a hidden scaling on both the physical and the fire damage that grows with the amount of humanity you are carrying (i.e: the little number on the top left of the HUD). Chaos will then grow up to +5. Both of these need to be ascended at the Fire blacksmith and will require the special fire upgrade material
And finally, if you have a Divine weapon, that scales with faith, you have two new options at the divine blacksmith, each once again requiring a different key item to unlock. These are a bit different in that they both have similar damage and scaling but they have different special semi-hidden bonuses. Divine weapons (such as the one you would be ascending) deal extra damage to some enemies, such as skeletons, as well as prevent them from being resurrected by necromancers. Occult weapons, on the other hand, trade that for extra damage to "god" type enemies, such as Gwyn and Gwyndolin. But these both deal additional magic damage that scales with Faith. Divine will go up to +10 and Occult up to +5 and they, once more, use the special faith upgrade material.
And there you have it, now you have a maxed out weapon (provided you visited the correct blacksmiths, gave them the specific ember and found the specific slab you needed (unless it was a unique or boss weapon) of your choice, suited to the build you're making, you're ready to take on even the biggest challenges of this game!
I don't get what people find so confusing about going to one of four blacksmiths, farming for one of 7 different types of upgrade materials and making sure you collect and assign the measly 10 embers to get your weapon. It's pretty straightforward
Not getting that the soldiers are fighting the dead giants really goes to show everything you need to know. Maybe I can understand not getting it in a casual play through but if you're making a critique then you kind of have to pay attention. And if the wiki did exist (I don't know when the video came but I know I get to live in luxury with a full mostly correct wiki which I know didn't always exist) or if he had access to the internet to look these things up then its even worse.
He was playing Scholar and DS3 was already out. The game had been out for years at that point.
The fact that the name "Forest of Fallen Giants" refers to the dead giants that are turning into trees was already well documented on the internet as people already had more than a few days to play this game.
And honestly, even the biggest casuals would get curious and take a closer look at the tree to notice that it looks the same as the Last Giant.
The guys hitting the giant tree show you that the tree is special since it's gettin atention from the npcs, even if you don't use lore you can see they are useful for guiding new players to interact with the trees and seeing they got some use (to acess the memories). Always thought this was the main reason for having them.
LMAO THE COMPLAINING ABOUT UPGRADE MATERIALS I CANT
Also who just goes around killing NPCs and then complains about being locked out of questlines? "I played a lot of DS1 and DS3" if that was the case then you would know not to attack random npcs that dont aggro on you.
Mauler: But you see DS2 is bad, so it's bad
People loving Fromsoft game X while hating Fromsoft game Y are some of the stupidest person that exist.
DS2 runs to bosses are too hard + lifegems make the bosses to easy ---> DS3 runs to bosses are too easy + the boss attack do much it' so hard with limited heals
OK bro what so you want ???
"Elden Ring open world is bad because you can go to high level area early"
Yeah because in DS1 you cannot go to the catacombs and New Londo right from the start ! And even Blightown if you have the right key.
And in DS2 you can directly go into 2 different areas and if you progress just a little bit in them you can go to 3 other areas from Majula
You just want to play DS3 or what ?
Hypocrisy is the second name for almost every critic of the second game.
Not really. People who criticize ds2 don't say the other games are perfect. They know they all have flaws. It's just that ds2 has more than the other games and usually to a worse extent.
It's ds2 fans that usually refuse to criticize any aspect of ds2 or even admit that there's anything wrong with it.
@@loubloom1941 not really, its that when they say "it has more" we prove that the og/3 often have worse issues, and virtually none of the ds2 issues are unique. Then the antis squeal whataboutism going full reddit buzzword.
lol, no. Everybody thinks that ds1 is masterpiece, but 50% it's just trash. Most overrated game in the series. Didn't like the game? Fine. Just don't make a criticism by comparing one piece of junk to more broken junk.
@@loubloom1941 Yeas, really. Everything you complaint about is present in the other games, and... THAT is what you complain about, not "ds2 has more than the other games", like what exactly are you blabbering about this time, if this wasn't even mentioned? All what you "state" gets refuted, and then you blabber about BS like your comment is, admit it, you're hater.
@@loubloom1941 I don't think I've ever seen a DS2 enjoyer who actually thinks the game is flawless. The problem is that we are put on the defensive by nonstop attacks, many of which are literally not true / just dumb (points like those addressed in this video). Why would you expect DS2 fans to go around openly criticizing their own game, when every time DS2 is brought up it's attacked as being an awful game?
There is another thing that I find so annoying when he talks about the amount of Slabs he has at the end of the game. Yeah, he has 13 left, but at the same time, he doesn't seem to have a lot of titanite chunks despite only having leveled one weapon. Yes, you can later buy them, but only after a pretty late point in the game. Furthermore, you can also farm them, but when it just comes to "playing the game" it seems that DS2 keeps your weapon choice important as well.
So people will blindly trust a person with sexy voices even if they spilled many misinformation. Got it.
As a female myself, it is not surprising at all.
A little tiny bit of defence.
The music does cut earlier in DS2, when the enemy has 0 hp, unlike in DS1 when the enemy is done with dying animation. This combined with the "Victory Achieved" sound is less noticeable.
@Domo3000 I want to personally thank you for taking the time to make these videos. As someone who is a dedicated souls player, a lover of ds2 and an aspiring game designer, this series has been fantastic food for thought on the subjects of game mechanics, level design, encounter design, community perception etc.
Doing god's work out here, and I appreciate it!
I like to pretend that this channel is hosted by cat from profile picture.
Whiskers, Defender of Drangleic
The most based cat
Rule 63 shaliqoir
You're right XD
Move over Lil Bub, we got the new cat celebrity
Some of HBomberguy's DS2 takes are a bit strange, but its clear at this point that nearly all nine hours of Mauler's response video could have been summed up with "I didn't enjoy myself as much as with the first Dark Souls." I have enjoyed this series, and very much look forward to Mauler's several dozen responses.
For HBomber my bullshit meter is never exploding as he constantly says "in my opinion" or "I personally think"
MauLer on the other hand presents his own personal feelings as objective facts to debunk the personal feelings of HBomber, which is just making my bullshit meter explode.
@@Domo3000Sounds about right. Hbomber's Fallout 3 video, on the other hand... oh boy. He barely acknowledges that the series went through both a studio and genre change and judges it by classic crpg standards. At least as far as video games go, he was much better at covering things he likes.
Many a True Nerd has a great response, "Fallout 3 was better than you think," which, unlike Mauler's response to Harris, is a good-faith and constructive video.
how many hours of mauler's ds2 vids have you covered already?
There is still so much bs
Hard to tell. He often spends so much time repeating the same point over and over until his fanbase thinks that it must be true.
@@Domo3000No trust me bro he said it's objectively bad. No one would ever spread misinformation on the internet, I'm sure of it!
I say this. I also wanted to kill Tark the scorpion man in the first playthrough, there's no way you're looking at that arena and that AWESOME enemy and not think that it kinda looks like a battle. But, first - he didn't attack. Second, when i attacked, he started saying something, wichw as "..." thing, therefore i concluded that it's an NPC and didn't kill him. Me. Not a game critic. But he couldn't understand MECHANICKS that are there to show you that you might make a wrong move, wich is good design for presenting it as a fight, but then giving all the hints that it isn't.
He could have stopped when he noticed that he did not aggro. He could have stopped when he noticed the Talk prompt.
He could have stopped after the first hit when he noticed that he still does not aggro. And he could have stopped when he saw him speak. And it seems like he didn't even know that you can get Absolution for your sins in Souls games.
But instead of admitting that he made a mistake he instead just blames the game.
@@Domo3000 It's because haters hate from the start, the hate is not born from them interracting with the object, so they pervert their experience as much as possible to solidify their delusion. This is human psyche, it's just some people admit it, some fight it and succeed, some stay the same and continue in wiched ways. All out lives is about getting out from undead asylum, lifting this curse off of us, and getting better. Some stay the same to the "title screen", even though they "win" and finish, they burn to ashes.
I need to play games less.
Damn you're STILL grinding this guy down? He's going to be nothing but silky dust.
Out-longmanning the longman
He's not doing a very good job grinding anything down. This response to mauler is awful.
@@loubloom1941 how is it awful?
@@akashthadani22Awful for mauler
@@loubloom1941 I mean he's providing a counter-argument with facts to back it up to each each of mauler's claim... I think he's doing much more than a great job proving mauler is an absolute dumbass that doesn't know what he's talking about lol
As enjoyable as it was to watch a thorough dismantling of Mauler's "critique" of the game, the real genesis of DS2 slander is Matthewmatosis. His review of the game is, in retrospect, borderline laughable. That being said, I do think that the review is genuine and not just a thoroughly asspained hit-piece on someone he doesn't like., as is the case with Mauler here.
That being said, Dark Souls 2 is a fascinating game to me because its design language draws a lot from the very tail end of the ps2 and PSP era. One of the biggest common denominators amongst long time DS2 fans I've spoken to was experience playing Monster Hunter. People who had gotten onboarded to this style of combat through DS1 didn't understand the idea that devs could offer investment into defensive archetypes for players as a means to affect game balance. I think the very idea that you could be asked to spend part of your build economy on something akin to "Evade Distance" broke a lot of brains back in 2014.
Honestly my biggest issue with DS2 is that it doesn't go further with the customization (and by extension, all soulslikes). Monster Hunter (both classic & modern) is a great example of how you can have 'simple' combat that has variety thanks to all the weapon types, gem customization, and distinct boss monsters.
Though, I'll even add that just looking at it from a From Soft perspective... Armored Core also trumps souls with better customization too. Those games don't even have i-frames. Weapons & Legs all meaningfully change how you approach the game. A high speed evasion mobile suit & slow bulky tank can both work & play completely differently.
I'm petty, because if I see you blind-playing DS2 naked with only a two-handed Greatsword and no covenant, I'm discarding all of your opinions.
You're deliberately limiting your experience and then wondering why you're having a bad time.
Being naked with a 2 handed Greatsword and complaining about getting staggered.
@@Domo3000 b but domoooo blobs alt insulted me when I wore poise armor telling me its useless.
When you finish you need to compile everything into a hours long video. To keep the tradition.
Man i need to replay dark souls 1. I missed that crazy lake area in my first playthrough a couple months ago. I also need to finish dark souls 2 lolol.
But about the video. I really appreciate the many upgrade materials and watching the guy rolling his eyes and scoffing about getting a slab from an enemy really pissed me off. I would be so ecstatic if that happened on Dark Souls 1 more often lol.
Ash Lake doesn't have any playable content and is super far from Firelink Shrine, don't go there without Lordvessel if you don't want to walk for an hour.
Not to mention he was complaining about the dropping materials from monsters that were ORIGINALLY in the DLCs. Where there are a slew of new weapons to try out. And to optimally try them out, you'd wanna get them to +10.
Also, just wanna say I appreciate the footage of screwing up certain things, like wiffing the rock lizards for mats. Gives a good laugh!
As someone who only ranks Dark Souls II above Demon's Souls, I really don't understand how these people can make full-on documentaries with the most stupid takes imaginable.
It's like they just like to hear themselves talk, instead of understanding the things that are coming out of their mouths. Complaining about upgrade materials being too generous is absolutely hilarious. I loved saving that 1 titanite slab in DS1 all the way to the final boss because I was too worried I would use it on something I would've regretted.
I'm 99% sure it's "Movie Critic" syndrome. People who spend their lives ranting and hyperanalyzing every little thing (then proceeding to run away and ignore something if they face backlash-- MauLer's controversy with Avatar lol) tend to have overinflated egos and think they're somehow "more intelligent" or "superior" to other people and therefore think their opinion is objective fact. But in reality, as most people know, Movie Critics and Game Journalists tend to be the most obnoxious idiots possible lol
@@inexplicablepresence8274 He didn't ignore it too much, he made a shit video with the Literature Devil excusing away their shit takes.
For Manscorpion Tark thing, here is far more worst thing in DS III. If you want to join Moundmakers covenant you have to talk a spider cage npc but here is the problem, this npc is literally same model with hostile npcs in that same area. If you make him aggro the big cage guy that carry you to moundmakers covenant place, became hostile and not carries you. If you know Darksouls games you can repent your sin but if you killed that spider npc, nope you can't join moundmakers. There is a second way for that covenant, Sirris quest but here is another problem if you join Rosaria's finger you can't complate Sirris quest. That's litterally my first DS III experience. I attacked spider npc and killed it accidently and I joined Rosarias Finger. I simply did impossible to join two covenants. Now compare it with Manscorpion Tark, it is literally a unique npc unlike that damn spider npc from DS III and again it is stronger much harder than spider npc which aggroes two hits. I don't watch Maulers DS III review but did he talk about that?
He would probably commend the game for not "hand-holding" the player by giving obvious clues, even if it fucks you over for a whole playthrough, why? Because it isn't DS2, so it's fine
For the fingers, it's only if you have the covenant equipped, but i get it.
I made that mistake once. Never did again. Why did I play that game again...
Thank you for being a real one with defending this game, Dark Souls 2 is my fav out of the trilogy and people bashing it with unfair criticism is really annoying.
Bro your luck with Yorgh's ring deflecting the spells. 🗿
When I try that shit, the deflect is rarer than getting those shadows from the flexile sentry to drop something.
Edit: 21:05 Really dude? That guy doesn't appreciate Usain Bolt Hollow? Every single playthrough I race the lil' fella. Also, I go on an adventure with torch hollow from No-Man's Wharf and Undead Crypt because... why not? It's fun to have fun and company to do silly things when you are alone in the dark world of Dark Souls - it doesn't matter if it's an enemy.
FYI about the Flexile Sentry shadows, you can farm all of their stuff from any other shadow in the game, the ones in that arena are just the only ones that infinitely respawn naturally without needing to burn a bonfire ascetic or go into the Company of Champions. I farmed the entire armor set from the shadow below the secret bonfire outside of Mytha's fight pretty easily just by going in the CoC.
@@moonlight9493 Yeah I know. I like to farm the one in Lost Bastille since it's quite near the bonfire. Though... yeah, getting any drops from them is a pain.
keep them coming bro, amazing work
always know its a good day when the goat uploads
I just started playing sotfs a month ago and i have tbh, its my favorite out of the souls series, yes it may be jank but in my opinion the jank makes it kind og engaging also the bonfire ascetics and how things change in NG+ is a really cool feature i wish stuck around
Seriously about those statues. How many of them are essential to dispell to complete the game? There are 17 statues in the whole game and they only in base game areas, not in DLCs. There are 4 statues that block your way and their purpose is making you go extra minute around them or blocking side quest objective (Troll in Aldia's keep, two lion warriors in forest with cursed jars (also if you dispelled one of them then you don't have to do it for the second since they block the same room from two sides), and hollow on the rope bridge in dragons nest). And there are two practically worthless statues' in Aldia's keep near giant basilisk. It's already 6.
The one in the Lost bastille that block your way for ruin sentinels? You can go around them to lost sinner if you pick your path through heide tower.
Others are placed in the path of something either irrelevant like trans-coffin, or in front of the loot that you can easily skip and even find similar things later on. And one is keeping key to Orniphex if you want boss weapons.
So in my memory there is only one statue that you need to take off to complete the game - pyromant girl near Majula, because there is no other way you can go to Vendrick's castle or to Freya or Aldia's keep.
One npc is essential and there is 12 branches that you can get without specific activities and 4 to buy from merchants and 1 from quest. Is it really that bad after all?
It's like you said. Only Rosbeth is necessary, and it's impossible to lock yourself out of unpetrifying her.
So he's acting as if is objectively bad to have some optional items, a boss and small areas to unlock. You know, as if adding more experimentation to the exploration and rewarding players in NG+ for remembering which ones they want to unpetrify for their build is somehow objectively bad.
I'm 100% sure that if that system had been in place in DS1 but was removed in DS2 he would complain that it's gone.
Siegmeyer's quest line was one of the most interesting quest lines in all ds but it's a shame it's too easy to miss, same as lucatiel's
You are a true hero
Complaining about the over abundance of upgrade materials is completely moronic and ignorant of all the other games.
In what world is having too many upgrade materials a bad thing? A huge complaint I have with all the other souls games is how they limit upgrade materials for seemingly no reason. Ds2 fixing this in many ways (such as the bell keepers covenant giving upgrade materials when you defeat a tresspasser and making slabs farmable) actively improved upon a nonsensical and dumb system.
I mean even now in elden ring they haven't solved this issue, smithing stones are all buyable, but not slabs.
Complaints like Mauler's just exemplify how video essayers will simply make up artifical arguements and points to intentionally bloat their weak narratives.
Seriously, Bloodborne would be such a better game if there was more than ONE blood rock, being able to respec my stats if I want to do a different build without having to start the whole game again. Not needing shitty PS+ subscription to find the player created chalice Dungeons that allow you to get early late game weapons and good gems
@@YEY0806 Actually there are 2 blood rocks in base game one is in late game location other one you can buy from messengers for 60 insight and third one is in DLC but i agree with you about needing subscription to be able to get some late game weapons early is stupid not to mention second blood rock is gated behind a patch you have to download even in game of the year edition so that would leave you with 2 blood rocks(1 without DLC)
There are also 1 or 2 blood rocks in chalice dungeons but they are in more difficult dungeons so that means griding boring content in order to get to late game dungeons which is not worth doing in my opinion.
@@zouken7880 it just seems like damage control on Fromsoft to give reasons for exploring their mostly shitty Dungeons with reused bosses that would make DS2 blush
I honestly like having max level upgrade materials being incredibly limited/outright permanently missable if you fail a questline. You *can* just finish the game without a max level weapon and I think having that be a super rare luxury not everybody will have is a great idea. (Can't deny that Dks1 sort of botches this by making unique weapons so easily upgradeable by comparison but I do think it's an interesting game design conversation; I'm in the niche of weirdos that thought it was rad when 1.0 Bloodborne only gave you a single blood rock in the entire game lmao)
That said I don't think Dks2 having materials be more readily available is inherently bad. For a game that has *so many* more weapons than the first, seemingly wants you to be playing with a larger arsenal with the extra equipment slots, *and* also lets you invest those precious materials into armor, it's not hard to see why they'd want to keep the amount of slabs proportional.
Bloodborne, to be fair, is a game with much less things to upgrade by a big margin. That said, all the weapons are so fun that only being able to upgrade one to max sounds like dookie.
So many more weapons, the ability to upgrade armor, and replayability, experimentation, and respeccing being core design.
It works for DS2. But DS1's system also isn't terrible.
@@goncalocarneiro3043despite MauLer claiming that Bloodborne only gives you one Blood Rock you actually do get 5 without farming if you include the DLC and Chalice Dungeons, and can get an unlimited amount from farming Depth 5 Chalice bosses
@@Domo3000 That's way more reasonable, nevermind that.
How is having a lot of upgrade materials bad? It’s better than having to grind the dark wraiths
It's because DS2 bad. That seems to be the main logic throughout his video.
I used to think like that when I first played the game. I tried forcing myself to like it and looked at all the bad parts. After beating the game, I don’t know over like 15 times I like the game. My most favorite part about it is the weapons because how fun they are to use.
20:25 this is probably the funniest thing I've seen in souls
I'm really enjoying these videos, I always liked DS2, but hardly anyone I've seen plays it, and everyone always trashes it.
This series is actually teaching me a lot about the game and it's so freaking interesting to see just how intricate and detailed this game is.
it's because a lot of people are told to steer clear of it
When people said "souls community is the worst gaming community ever" you better trust them.
DS1 is my favorite souls but yeah, i agree with your take on mauler criticism which is unfair for DS2. especially with all of the evidence and comparation that you presented, kudos sir !
This series got me to play the Seeker of Fire mod for DS2 and ive been loving it using the zweihander and presuers greatsword powerstancing is so fun
Tbf tho in Ds1 there were at least other kinds of titanite slabs so you could max multiple weapons in NG you'd just have to take a different upgrade path + there were way less weapons in Ds1 so of course they had to change this upgrade system for ds2 and it's good to see how the series developed I like all the games cause they all have quirks and strengths
14:39 DS2 Master Domo3000
On the topic of item drop rates, the game is extremely generous with the consistent amount of times you obtain high value titanite; which is always nice. Except petrified dragon bones. Unless you farm for ice horses (of all things) or baby drakes in DLC areas, getting those materials are relatively scarce on its own. Not a fan of those being needed to upgrade boss weapons, really.
For dragon bones, use the blue shield, prisoner tatters, Explorer headpiece, and gold serpent ring, and you're good to go farming
Other players complaining about the branch of yore shortage while im on ps5 and can just use cloud saves
How many series will you make else?
Don't know yet. There's still several hours of complaints left to sift through
@@Domo3000 , ok, I'll watch it all with enjoying. Defending of DS 2 is hard and interesting mental gymnastics.
I never understood rhe hate for dark souls 2, but I only played the SOTFS version. I still like Dark Souls 1 more, but I like more than 3.
I gotta say about the music cutoff in ds2 the bosses can't even have their death animation before the music stops in Ds1 they at least kinda had the music going for the death animation
Wow you somehow made the mauler videos watchable
guys let's be honest, ds2 > ds1 > ds3
Real
For me personally it's ds2 > ds3 > ds1 but I can definetly understand liking 1 more than 3
Nahhh. Ds3>Ds2>Ds1. The combat consistently got better with every game, although there is definitely an argument for Dark Souls 2's quirky combat at movement
@@masterduelzero1795 DS2 has more variety than 3, but DS3 has weapon Arts. Both are good in their own way, but I like the variety more.
Yall are crazy for thinking ds2 is the best of the 3
Speaking of flying enemies, in Demon's Souls, gargoyles can fly and they even don't die from gravity. However, those flying gargoyles were extremely irritating, and From Software decided not to let flying enemies after Demon's Souls truly fly.
Why was the first Elden Ring clip in German but the others in English?
I switched it recently
I'm trying to get all the achievements and the titanite slab farming is driving me insane
19:32 Nice Gwyndolin armor
21:37 .... He knows right?
Who the hell complains that there are TOO MANY upgrade materials?!?!? They should all be available for unlimited purchase after you've cleared the game, at the very least!
Also: This problem with common weapons being really hard to upgrade in comparison to unique ones is one that is still very frustrating in Elden Ring, actually
I do hope he watches your videos
The ring could give something like ' half of the time'
For the ring.. well it's pretty strongly indicated. Tbh upgrading in ds1 was a pain
1:29 I mean I only have a sample size of two people from experience, but if you're paying any attention to the dialogue and reading item descriptions you'd know you need something from Artorias to travel to the Abyss. And you know he has a grave in Darkroot Garden.
Personally for weapon upgrades, I think the somewhat limited quantity in DS1 suits it since most builds are set in stone. DS2 is much more open to customization, so the abundance of material is better for it. This is one of the points I wholeheartedly disagree with Mauler on, scarcity is totally opinion based and it would make even less sense in DS2 since you can reallocate stats.
21:40 This is also something I pointed out in his video, it makes sense when you understand the lore but you must admit on a first playthrough, it will look quite strange for hollows to sprint past you to start attacking a tree. I think it would have been better if they simply spawned there attacking it.
But he played DS1 before where the Snake People in the Duke's Archive also sprint past you, so enemies following scripted events to run past you shouldn't have ended up in his video.
@@Domo3000 I don't disagree with the idea , I just think the snake people running away from the Pisaca coming up the stairs makes a little more visual sense than the hollow soldiers. In either case though, he is wrong about it not being intended.
Man Looking Forward Domo and His Comment to EmberYT DS2 Play through
I actually think the issue isn't hitboxes, but feedback. Hit feedback is better in the other games with enemies and the player model reacting stronger to hits, the way how poise works. People expect a certain thing and feel that the hit feedback doesn't give them good information.
For the boss music part, I noticed in your examples that for all the bosses in DS1 there is a very distinct 'boss killed' sound effect that plays when the music cuts out (minus Gwyn, where it plays during the death animation). In DS2, the sound isn't there in the clips shown, so the cut seems a lot more abrupt.
To be fair, I wouldn't call the weapon upgrade progression in DS1 "unbalanced". I think it accomplishes exactly the thing it wants to do, that is making the upgrade materials feel very limited and important. I'm not saying that is better that what DS2 does, both games choose to do two different things with the upgrade of their weapons, and both place the materials accordingly to that vision.
When it comes to regular titanite and its elemental variants, I agree. However any sense of materials being "limited and important" goes out the window the moment you get to the giant blacksmith and you can just buy infinite twinkling titanite. Is it expensive? Sure. Still infinite, and infinitely more convenient than regular titanite.
Now that I think about it, not even ds2 lets you buy infinite twinkling lol, for that you have to at least venture out to find them. Makes them feel more limited and improtant, to me at least.
I meant it's unbalanced in the sense that on a blind playthrough you will have fully upgraded Black Knight and Boss weapons before you will have a fully upgraded regular weapon.
You might not even find a regular Titanite Slab on your own, but several of every other upgrade path.
I tend to like DS1 because of how immediately available materials are if you know where to look, but it sucks for trying multiple weapons. Weapon upgrades are super powerful in FromSouls and I’ve seen many streamers make the game harder because they hesitate to upgrade even their dedicated weapons.
Bro... Imagine a poor sop wants to upgrade their ARMOR. Their REGULAR ASS ARMOR in DS1. Mfer needs multiple playthroughs. How is that any cool..?
@@goncalocarneiro3043 and at the same time you can easily fully upgrade a whole Twinkling Titanite armor set by just doing half an hour of Darkroot Garden PvP
i think you missed his context, Mauler do said that there are abundance of titanite slabs, but there are so less of materials such as titanite chunks as you can see in his inventory even tho upgrading an item needs 6 titanite chunks just to upgrade it from +6 to +9 and it only need 1 slab to +10 a weapon. Also, twinkling titanite kind of doesnt drop from titanite lizards anymore and i dont know where to get petrified dragon bone other than treasures (and it needs 15 just to upgrade 1 weapon, damn)
You are making up this context. He was then talking about how Bloodborne only gives you one Blood Rock and how much better it is if your choices matter.
He was talking about the overabundance of materials and never once that you get more slabs than chunks.
Also, Titanite Chunks have a much higher drop rate and can be bought in an unlimited amount, so that context doesn't even make much sense either.
@Domo3000 thanks for replying man, never played bloodborne and i watched his video a long time ago so i kinda dont remember things. But one thing, in ds1 you can still get infinite of it by the black knight in the final area. You can still farm it early game by killing ingward to get the key, the same with the monsters on black gulch. And infinite in ds2 is also endgame (i think youre talking about the stone trader). Also a question, are there any enemies that drop guaranteed petrified dragons and twinkling titanites so that upgrading a weapon to +5 much easier? Because in ds1, you can buy twinkling from the anor londo blacksmith and killing the respawning titanite demon in lost izalith.
@@delontando2188 for dragon bone farming, farm the T. Rex drakes in the sunken DLC
17:30 This guy sounds like a narcissist when he says that your "feelings don’t matter"
His feelings are obviously objective facts
@@Domo3000 Yeah apparently, it is the truth inside his head and his viewers lol
While I think ds2's more generous item upgrade drops throughout the game is nice, I kinda wish it took a more ds1-y approach at times. Stuff like merchants having infinitely buyable versions of titanite, excluding slabs as those are supposed to be rare. While it might just be an issue on my part, I never knew that stonetrader chloanne sold infinite titanite shards after beating old iron king. It's a very specific thing and imo less intuitive than new merchant = new material.
Also infinitely buyable chunks aren't available from chloanne until after nashandra, which I think is a little lame. If the wiki is correct, the pacing of upgrades is all over the place, but I think that makes sense with how variable a player's path through the game can be so I guess this is just a mild consequence of that.
Coming from DeS, I am THANKFUL they didn't make slabs rare, or in DS3's case A LIMITED AMOUNT. As a duelist, that annoys me to no end especially when it means I have to roll up an entirely new character just to try out a few weapons. It isn't fun.
While I think this is still a big ask just for slabs, I'm pretty sure you can get all 15 in ng+. In my experience if you go fast in ds3 the main game even in ng+ is at worst like a 6 hour dash, maybe 3-4 if you absolutely blitz through, which is probably how long it would take to farm them in ds1.
Idk how elden ring handles it, but I think they should just have one of the merchants sell slabs once the final boss is defeated. Maybe sell them for a pretty steep price, but monotonous farming for upgrades should just be gone, at least imo.
@@knivy6160 There are 13 normal 'slabs' and 8 Somber 'slabs'. Which a few are locked behind a quest+ending if I recall right. It's somehow worse.
Also I do agree that farming for slabs or really any kind of resource farming just isn't fun. Although in DS2 it was far kinder and the enemies to kill to get it are plentiful.
Now to address your first point; while that may do for some, people like me have mountains of weapons and set up the inventory. This may seem absurd to you, and perhaps it is. But even if we looked at this as just a normal playthrough, that is only 15 weapons out of the 153. This is where my point stands, I don't want to have to spend up to six hours minimum to just get to pvp each time I want to play with a different set of weapons. So when the Sig-glitch was discovered, I was SO thankful.
I know this is a rather niche problem, but for players like me, it pretty much drives me to either muleing (bleh) or having to trade weapons with myself or abuse glitches. But again, I do MASSIVELY agree; if they made slabs able to be bought after defeating the end game boss at the price of like... I don't know, 25k runes each/souls/echos/whatever-I'd be done and all I'd have to do then is find the best location for souls farming which is usually far easier and there are ways to buff it.
@@knivy6160 Another idea that I think would be great if they did something like Monster Hunter, where you can 'delevel' your gear and get the materials back. That could help as well, just something I wanted to tack on, but not in my already massive post-sorry I am too passionate about games.
Hello I’m back! Probably gonna be a shorter comment, but here goes.
Firstly, these were listed as nitpicks. These aren’t necessarily weighted the same as say, snap point movement, or something. But in any case, I find it wild that you defend the fragrant branches of yore by saying that it’s a part of exploration. To use your branches and see what you get. If it’s something useful to you, you’ll remember it for your next run, but if it’s not, then you’ll still know for next time to not use a branch. But then you say that 2 slabs in DS1 are easily missable. I thought it would be a reward for exploration? Sure, you might mess up a questline (I didn’t get the slab from siegmeyer’s quest or did the DLC my first playthrough, so I was only working with one slab. However, I had built into using a basic halberd, so it worked out fine). That said, on subsequent playthroughs, who or what is stopping players from looking up where these items are? Or even exploring more? How is it that the branches are a test of exploration, but not finding the limited number of slabs? I don’t even mind getting plenty of slabs in DS2 (I often find myself running low on titanite chunks instead, at least if I’m trying to max out weapons or armor before clearing the Throne of Want).
As for the brief hitbox thing, you’ve got another video going more in depth on those, and you show the actual hitboxes across the series. So I won’t delve too much into it, except that, from what I saw, it looked like Mauler was extremely close to the knight, so like… idk of course you’re going to get hit?
As to the music cutting out, the difference in DS1 and 3 is that the music continues playing and only cuts off when the VICTORY ACHIEVED sound plays. In your own footage you demonstrate this. What happens in DS2 is that as soon as you land the final blow, the music stops, the boss slumps over and gets Thanos’d, and then the VICTORY ACHIEVED sound plays. So yes, it’s much more jarring in DS2 than 1 or 3 because 1 and 3 continue to fill the space with the boss theme before the text appears and plays a new sound. It flows into each other. Whereas in 2 there’s an awkward pause as you watch the boss die and then hear the sound.
Also this is a personal note I’m editing in because I forgot to mention it, but I really don’t like the gravestones in DS2. I get that they’re a layer of convenience to get rewards for questlines if you kill the NPC in question, but they fly in the face of the whole point of these games, which is it’s authenticity. Which is something Miyazaki has always brought up whenever asked about the difficulty in Soulsborne games. If you kill an NPC, I think it’s silly to give yourself a do over with the gravestones. As far as I know, the only time NPCs can die without being killed by you is Pate/Creighton at the end of their questline. Other than that, Lucatiel for instance has to be summoned to 3 boss fights, and so if her summon is killed, at least she herself is not dead and can therefore be resummoned. Also Straid, can maybe die if you don’t clear the area of the exploding hollows, but then, don’t use a branch on him until it’s safe to do so. He then moves to the other cell for more protection. So yes, Mauler complaining about missing the fragrant branch from Tark is hypocritical compared to, say, DS1 slabs. I just really don’t like the gravestone system. Because the vast majority of NPCs in DS2 can only die if you, the player, chooses to attack them. And if you kill them, then that’s that. You’ve broken their quest chain, and it’s a consequence of your choice. The gravestones nullify any consequence whatsoever, and that’s just bad design.
But here’s what’s really bothering me about your responses. You make frequent use of whataboutism in your defenses of the games. Like this video mentioning how even though certain enemies across the DS trilogy have wings, they won’t use them to save themselves from falling down a bottomless pit and dying. Yes, that occurs in every Souls game. Yes, it is rather goofy, although one could make the argument that something like the drakes in Valley of the Drakes in DS1 can only fly for a short period of time before they have to rest, and so if they try to land, but are over the ravine and fall, they won’t be able to flap their wings fast enough to survive because they just tried to spray you with lightning. But even still, that’s up to player interpretation and is entirely subjective. What isn’t subjective is that it’s a goofy thing in all the games, and you even say as much. What’s strange is that that’s precisely what Mauler is saying, that it is a problem. The only difference is that he’s not invoking DS1 or 3 in this video. He’s talking about DS2 (and funnily enough when I got to the end, guess what video popped up for me to watch next?). For all we know, Mauler could have an issue with loss of aggro or enemies not using their wings to save themselves from death in the other games. We don’t know because he doesn’t say it. Because he’s tackling DS2.
Dude, you’ve made some great arguments before, and I’ve acknowledged them. But this whataboutism is just not nearly as good a defense as you think it is, because you’re essentially admitting that yes, it is a problem, but it happens in other games too, so it’s fine. Trust me. Platforming in the souls series is subpar and not something that’s given a lot of time and resources and mechanics to facilitate in these games. “It’s a problem across the games, but Mauler is making it seem like DS2 is broken for it.” Again, because he’s focusing on DS2. If he invokes another game, like how he did with Undead Burg and enemy aggro ranges, then you know what he thinks about a certain aspect to the other games, and can more effectively counter what he’s saying (and I know you can, because I watched you do it, and it was great stuff.)
I look forward to watching more parts in this series, and again, I’m not trying to come off as a DS2 certified haterade consumer. I actually feel rather lukewarm about the game. But what I’m noticing is that your arguments and points don’t come off as strongly as they could, and so I would advise you try to stay away from whataboutisms whenever possible. Take care!
These aren't whataboutism.
Whataboutism are arguing about something else that's unrelated, but MauLer and people that cite his video use plenty of issues that happen in every Souls game as proof that DS2 is broken, while turning a blind eye to the same issues in the other games.
It makes perfect sense to point out that these are issues in every Souls game and that it is hypocritical to act as if only DS2 is broken for having them.
Same with snap point movement. Zelda Breath of the Wild and Elden Ring have the same 45 degree snap points, but if they are implemented in DS2 it's seen as inherently broken and objectively bad game design. They are implemented in hundreds of other third person games, because the both unrestricted 360 degree movement and snap points have their pros and cons.
In regards to the Fragrant Branches vs Slabs. The Petrified Statues are in obvious places and you can just experiment around. But you can't expect new players on a blind playthrough to discover the Undead Asylum or Quest Slabs, which is why the weapon upgrade progression in DS1 is lopsided as it's much easier to fully upgrade a full Twinkling Titanite armor set before you can upgrade a single regular weapon.
If he is complaining about too many Slabs in DS2 he should also consider that it's still a much more balanced weapon upgrade progression than DS1 had, but he still presents it as an objectively broken system instead of admitting that DS2 improved upon the previous game.
@@Domo3000 also, in regard to slabs, you could make the case that DS2 is a longer game, and so therefore you would expect more slabs. Like I know Mauler brings up the one blood rock in the Nightmare Mensis in Bloodborne, and that additional blood rocks require 60 insight to purchase. But Bloodborne is a far shorter game than DS2, and so it makes sense that there’s a shortage of blood rocks as opposed to slabs. But again, outside of the Siegmeyer questline (and this relates to most Souls games if you’re playing online), I’d make the argument that the slabs in DS1, at least in terms of the one from the Stray Demon, are still a matter of exploring Firelink. Either you see that there are stairs, and so you want to go up there, or maybe you see the key on the roof of the dilapidated building that Petrus is standing in and want to figure out how to get to it, or maybe you see another player’s note and go “if someone could write notes along this wall, then there has to be a way to get there.” These games have trial and error, that’s for sure, and so you’d have to wonder why Mauler takes such umbrage with the branches in the first place. I think on my completion playthrough of the game, I unpetrified every statue? Maybe missed like one or two.
I bring up the whataboutism claim, and this comparison to DS1 slabs and the branches, to illustrate the point I made in my last comment and what I said in this one. Your supporting evidence is pretty damn good, but your conclusions contain wobbly language that take away the oomph from your argument. In the last video I commented on (which was part 2), I said that your claim that DS2 was slightly different at the end was a weak conclusion to reach because you could apply that language to anything in any game, and my example was the Bed of Chaos. The same thing happened with you saying the branches were part of the exploration in DS2, and so I made the point that you could say the slabs in DS1 are also a part of exploration. (Also while we’re on a tangentially related topic, there’s a video I’ll check out fairly soon that asks how players were supposed to know how to access the DLC in DS1, cus I had to look up a guide lol).
I hope you know that I’m not trying to sound like I’m attacking you or anything like that. I’ve enjoyed your videos on Mauler’s video, and I’m giving feedback because I think the arguments made here could be so much stronger without the use of wobbly language that could be applied to other, genuinely bad things in these games. If you don’t think you need it, that’s absolutely fine. I’m not in some weird headspace like “I said it so it MUST be true!!! I AM THE HOLDER OF ALL KNOWLEDGE!!!” I just know how toxic fanboys can be, and so I hope you know that that’s not my aim with these comments. I’m under no illusions that I know more than you about DS2 (quite the opposite, as shown by you teaching me that equip load affects fall damage, or hell, even showing me that there’s a gravestone system in the game (even though I don’t like that personally)).
I think the issue with too many free max upgrades is that it doesnt force players to commit to their choices, which does actually take away from the experience.
There was no commitment in DS1 either, except for regular weapons. You could easily max out every special and boss weapon you find.
If you wanted to max out more regular weapons in DS1 it was just way more annoying to farm the Titanite Slabs, so I don't see how a game that values my time and does not make me farm for hours is somehow worse.
@@Domo3000 that's a lot of hoops to go through just to say DS2 is better. Its just... not. Yeah, in each game you could pick up a basic weapon and essentially max that sucker asap. But DS2 is really the only one where it's so easily repeatable, that it removes commitment completely, which is a bad thing.
Getting a boss weapon involves beating that boss and taking their soul to the appropriate NPC, so by advancing in the game, you are already committing to less game with the weapon you desire. And for special weapons, you need to actually get them to drop, and a lot of enemies that do so dont respawn.
Theres also thencovenant of artorias...
Ingward will tell the player that they need to "learn from Artorias how to traverse The Abyss." Hopefully the player will recall either this line or that they could purchase a "Crest of Artorias" from Andre. Admittedly, it's not great and could be a lot better, but to say its nonexistent just isnt true.
Just seems like a lot of hoops to jump through to defend a minor bad point in an overall bad game.
@exeledusprince9165 it seems like you're the one jumping through hoops to insist ds2 is bad but okay 😅
@@xAbsolution1 ...that doesnt mean anything. At least I put some substance into my comment, why couldnt you at least try to refute?
I think it's because you all KNOW this game is so much worse than the others but just cant or dont like to admit it.
To me, that would just mean I need to do new playthroughs if I don't have many. And all that means is more tedium. So I don't agree.
2:22, bruh, just roll
You do realize that MauLer came out about the DS2 response video being faulty, right? I get you’re trying to call out previous slander, but he admitted this *years* ago.
Are you referring to the bit where mauler says that he got the backstabs part wrong since he forgot that the jesters top blocks backstabs or did he say anything more during an efap or something
mauler has done no such thing, he has backed off on just a couple minor criticisms but still maintains 1. The game is bad. 2. His reasoning in his videos is mostly accurate as to why.
He also still maintains atla is bad, but given how unpopular that view is he really is cagy about that one.
@@janehrahan5116 Wait, what does his views on ATLA have to do with Dark Souls II? Are you seriously tossing that in just because you don’t like him? I don’t always like some of his content, either, but that has absolutely nothing to do with the *Dark Souls II response* video.
If we’re going to get back on track, I’d say that while his overall assessment was flawed, and while you could spend hours picking it apart, despite many of MauLer’s detractors here hypocritically pointing out that he spent hours picking apart the game when they’re practically binging Domo3000’s responses now, his view of the game being bad… it’s not entirely inaccurate either.
Hitboxes wouldn’t be such a popular topic to dog pile on if Adaptability wasn’t a character stat. You could spend a lot of time picking apart Dark Souls, but for all of its flaws, including certain enemies’ hitboxes, they didn’t drag the player through the mud by making a core mechanic into a stat.
It doesn’t mean Dark Souls II is a 1-star game, nor does it mean that the story is devoid of value-Actually, I still enjoy the game, personally, despite its issues-but it was honestly a bad feature that just got in the way of everything.
As for invasions while being Hollowed… I’m not even gonna lie, getting invaded when human was better. It actually made sense in that context. With the flow of time being convoluted and whatnot, why would a random Undead invade a Hollowed Undead.
It makes sense when you kill Hollows along your journey, and it makes sense that beings such as Gwyn might be Hollow after rekindling the First Flame, but random Undead would be of no logical interest for the Chosen Undead.
Plus, there is more incentive to maintain Humanity (or Human Effigies, in Dark Souls II), as while Human Effigies encourages you to not die, Humanity encouraged PVP, which made covenants more important to the gameplay. Not wanting to get invaded isn’t really enough, because you can literally turn Online Mode off either way-and you still get invaded by NPCs. But in Dark Souls, if an NCP invaded you (because you were human), it also incentivized people to acquire their equipment, even if their equipment wasn’t the “meta” PVP gear.
Granted, last I checked, MauLer didn’t even go that far, but it’s worth mentioning. Again, not a 1-star game because of that, though it was a wasted opportunity that was around previously.
You can view the video as a good critic making mistakes, or a bad critic getting certain critiques correct, but c’mon… don’t kid yourself. The game is flawed by nature, and not in the “If only they had this one arbitrary thing-“ kind of way. Even I can admit that after having fallen in love with the game.
@@Blyegh im tossing it about because it speaks to a consistent pattern of 1. Mauler refusing to admit when hes wrong. 2. Mauler hiding/obfuscating his takes when the backlash is correct and hes wrong. I don't dislike him, but its a consistent character flaw (been falling him since soma/amnesia).
I won't get into your criticisms here (though I could, they aren't as strong as you'd think, and mostly reflect the devil horns psychology effect and the original position fallacy), my point with atla was all I cared to point out as it shows this isn't an isolated instance.
One last note, you not thinking the game is garbage and coping that mauler has moved to your position is the main difference between us, I just don't lie to myself about the man and HIS flaws.
@@janehrahan5116 “I could argue with you-but I won’t. But also-“
You want me to take *you* seriously, and you serve *that* as a response? “I could argue with you-but I won’t-“ and you continue anyways? Get out of here, LOL
Also, I didn’t say MauLer and I agreed on every point. I’m not sure what you’re on about with the “original position fallacy”, because my stance hasn’t changed. I don’t think he did as good of a review for DS2, even though he was correct in certain pieces of his assessment, and even though he did not add critiques I might have added myself as mentioned above-assuming you read everything.
However, *you* got lost in the weeds. I was fine with disagreeing and maybe hearing your stance to possibly change my mind, but you come off as comically pretentious, passive-aggressive, and annoying.
Were someone else to reply here to maybe help you with your points, I think I would be willing to reply, even if that means I figure out I messed up with something. But at this point, I really don’t care about what you take from this, because it’s unlikely I’ll be replying to you after this.
Lol bro trying to jump to the bird dying. Lol you just roll off, no need to jump. Do you even play dark souls games? Lack of skill lol
I bet Domo has more skill than you lol
You can roll if you have mid-roll or ninja-flips, but fast rolling or fat rolling does not work. Jumping works for all builds without having to change your equipment.
Do you even play Souls games?
This entire comment section is a ds2 cope
The biggest cope comes from people like MauLer that accuse the game of being unfair instead of accepting that they themselves simply suffer from skill issues
@@Domo3000 Replace "unfair" with being "a shit game", then you get his actual statement, y'all always use the "skill issue" argument even when it's about FUNDAMENTAL FLAWS
@@aregulargenericname8794 I still don't see how it's a shit game just because it makes people with skill issues mad
What a shitshow, as someone who never played ds2 its so damn confusing to try to understand whos right or wrong, stuff like scholar vs vanilla and these ds2 defense videos, can you just agree on something for once like wtf
Ds1 is objectively better than ds2
(Not that ds2 is bad or anything)
Arguable.
You are objectively unattractive and she doesn't love you
@@Luekirt2 Hey man, that's your opinion and it's perfectly respectable lol. All DS games are pretty good from what I experienced!
Not objectively. If one can point to flaws in A that are remedied/fixed in B, which is kind of the whole point of this debunkfest of a channel, then it is not objective. You can still like ds1 more than ds2 and you're not wrong or stupid or whatever, same goes for any two games really.
Having played both games I can confidently say that ds2 is a better game than ds1; and as much as I'd like to say it is *objectively* better, I simply can't in good faith. They are different. I believe ds2 is better but you may think they both gargle balls.
When objectively analyzing the games though, as seen on this series, a plethora of lies and misconceptions of ds2 are brought to light; the kinds of ideas that discredit the amazing game that is ds2. I don't play ds2 or watch these videos because I hate ds1, I do these things because I love ds2 and desire deeply for it to be recognized as the fantastic game it is.
Overly long unprompted response over
It wasn't a dishonest response from mauler. It was a great response. His criticisms of DS2 were accurate, fair, and very thorough. You're just angry because someone took apart your favorite game.
why did you erase your comment and copy-paste the exact same again?
@@pianomotorola6389 because he was getting ratioed, as god intended.
@@janehrahan5116 he got ratioed hard lol
Mauler literally was spreading disinformation have you literally watched ANY of the videos for even a second?
I like how you don't address a single argument made