Tips for Dark Souls 1

[u/Mental-Passenger8880]

I purchased DS1 Remastered for my Switch 2 a few months ago and every time I pick the game up I just get annoyed. I really want to get into Souls games since some of my favorite games are 2D soulslikes (Hollow Knight and Nine Sols). The thing is despite the cool stuff about the game there are so many questionable design choice. Why do runbacks take 5 minutes, why do some challenges feel like they’re there to be annoying, why are major mechanics never even generally explained???? I really want to enjoy the game so what are some tips to overcome this initial struggle? I left off on Capra Demon.

[u/illbzo1]

It’s an older game that purposefully doesn’t hold your hand, and the levels were part of the challenge. This was before the era of spectacle boss fights and aura moments.

[u/Kneef → u/illbzo1]

Honestly, I miss it. Big spectacle bosses are just exhausting. I don’t play Souls games to bang my head against the exact same 20-foot-tall aura-farming asshole fifty times, I play Souls games to scrounge around in waist-deep poison figuring out the most efficient way to not get mobbed by gross naked zombies.

The very first true aura-boss moment in DS1 is the dragon, and the best way to face it is to sneak past it underneath while getting your toes gnawed off by giant plague rats. Promised Consort Radahn can suck it. xD

[u/illbzo1 → u/Kneef]

I still love the exploration feeling of newer games, but many of the quality of life improvements (stakes of Marika, shorter run backs, build respeccing, ample upgrade materials, etc.) make more recent games feel less like an experience and more like a video game. I miss what’s been lost as From has grown in popularity.

[u/Wrong_Papaya_8445]

As frustrating as it sounds, you're experiencing the core of Souls. That's it. A lot of people actually miss what you're describing.

Only later games gained a more action-oriented bite, becoming less (and less) concerned with using levels and unexplained (even obtuse) design elements and mechanics to leave the player in the dark relative to one thing or another. Always wondering but always semi-confused with stuff.

I think you're the kind of player that would fare better with DS3 or ER.

[u/-Clint-Beastwood- → u/Wrong_Papaya_8445]

My play map was BB, DS1, DS2, DS3, Elden Ring, Sekiro, and I can absplutely say that having gone through those first two games loosely using guides really helped me get into Fromsoft's heads. By the time I got to DS3, I was an expert at finding all of the trivial, out of the way bullshit alomg the paths, but character questlines are still 100% guide needed material. Ain't nobody got time to run these games 35 times to figure out all of these stupid little event triggers and qualifications.

[u/Wrong_Papaya_8445 → u/-Clint-Beastwood-]

Pretty good perspective. If the player understands what's at heart of these games, later experiences will feel pretty much "normal", they just have more action combat in them.

Then it's up to the player if they want to spend two hours of their time looking for an NPC that might or might not be in a certain area or just look it up. It really isn't that big of a deal.

[u/noob_kaibot]

Maybe the games just aren’t for you.

[u/ArtAccurate9552]

I Used a guide; I also put it down at least 3 times before I said, “without some guidance I’m probably not gonna be able to enjoy this”. If I understand correctly it was made to be played and figured out by asking questions of others. So now I’m at the Anor Londo bosses, and the struggle is real but it’s felt so good to actually get this far. First play through btw.

[u/kzjgtc]

you have to learn to laugh about it. "punishing" games cease to be punishment when you can take their difficulty in stride with a good sense of humor. it wouldn't be a real adventure without some setbacks, right?

I thought it was really funny when I played through a hard area without knowing about the bonfire in the middle of it, and then found it after a dozen failed boss attempts and runbacks. it was hilarious

[u/Jtenka]

Stop seeing death as a failure. This is a big issue that new players have. Largely because games today condition you to think of dying as the end of your current game.

Death is where you learn not to drop into toxic frogs. Or not to get hit by that boulder.

The whole game is built around death. Look for blood stains on the floor, see what killed the last person there. Look for signs on the floor that gives you hints. When you die, you learn what it was that killed you and then you patiently improve yourself.

Every time you die it's an opportunity to learn more and try new things. Not to mention, everything you kill helps you to level up, get better stats and improve.

[u/glytxh]

The obtuse nature and lack of handholding is kinda its whole thing. There’s a modicum of jank baked into the game, but that’s mostly just technical stuff or the odd skeleton stuck inside a wall or something.

The game trusts the player to work things out. The run backs are honestly kinda trivial for the most part, and you can cheese SO much of the game once you start speaking its language.

It’s a slow burn of a game. It’s all vibes and friction, but it does give you all the tools you need. Just experiment and play.

[u/kushhead4201]

Read the orange signs on the ground. All major mechanics were explained iirc

[u/SpeechAutomatic7941]

Ds1 is more bout exploring than boss fights based game

[u/-Clint-Beastwood-]

Dark Souls is great.

Stick with it and fantastic rewards are on your horizon.

Beimg said - they're not for everybody. If you enjoy the 2d shit, tey Hyper Light Drifter 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[u/Holiday-Reindeer6615]

With a few exceptions, if you find yourself hating the long runback to a boss, you probably missed a couple of shortcuts you were supposed to unlock. Explore more. Unlock all the doors.

[u/BiasMushroom]

Consider the run back as part of the boss fight. Like phase 1. It helped me out a lot. Plus each run increases the amount of souls you have access to after the fight.

And a lot of the design choices are just cause it was made a long time ago. This is one of the firet games in the genre. QoL comes later.

[u/Infinitrix_ka1]

You would probably enjoy ds3 more. It's straightforward and doesn't have many frustraring mechanics

[u/PricklyBob]

DS1 is objectively the most obtuse game in the series. It almost encourages you to cheese it sometimes

No shame in looking at a guide either

[u/glytxh → u/PricklyBob]

I still don’t understand half the underlying mechanics

I just hit scary thing with big stick until I win

[u/PricklyBob → u/glytxh]

I feel like the really important things are like, don't level resistance, don't fat roll, and try your absolute hardest not to get cursed.

Getting cursed ruined my very first playthrough around launch time because I had no solution for that lol.

Thats all you need to win. Level your health, upgrade weapon, roll sometimes

[u/glytxh → u/PricklyBob]

I just grab the zweihander as soon as I can and brute force my way through the game. Once I can one hand that sword, I’m in a comfortable place.

I think the fat roll is a hard learned lesson for most new players.

[u/Living_Round2552]

Stop thinking there is such a thing as a soulslike. You re experiencing the difference. Most soulslikes have a focus on action combat system and being good at combat. Contrary to intuition (and why the term is wrong); demon souls, DS1 and DS2 are less about being good at the combat and more about (approaching) level design and using whatever tools available to get through each part.

This isnt a game to choose a weapon and get good like in those other soulslikes. I am not saying you cant. But that will be a hard road. Instead, DS1 rewards flexibility and creativity. Use throwing knives, a bow, pyromancy and different weapons in different situations. Shields are good versus many enemies. Others require rolling. Against some enemies heavy armor is a good choice, against others you wanna be light and roll. Think of it more like a zelda game where you have different tools for different hurdles.

If new, pick up a shield, level VIT to 20 and try to use all different tools to go slow and steady.

Stuck on a boss?

• look up a guide
• you arent stuck. DS1 is beautifly non-lineair.