PixlBit

Mirror's Edge is a great game. It's not that long either, but it can be pretty frustrating. When I finally got my platinum I was jumping up and down and cussing out my tv lol. That last speed run was insane! I am planning on starting Dark Souls soon. So I'll be right there with ya lol. How hard can it be compared to most NES games?

It's a different kind of hard, I think, than NES games. I feel much less in control of my fate than when I play Mega Man, for instance. I can see the appeal and there's definitely something to be said for the rush that the fear and tension give you, but right now I just want it to go die in a fire lol.

I think you'll have a memorable and rewarding time in Dark Souls Aaron, you just have to stop comparing it to "difficult" NES games. I played a lot of hard NES games, and most of them weren't very fun or rewarding. People have wrongly given DS that kind of stigma and it's not that kind of game at all. Dark Souls is better designed than any of those old "difficult" NES games and it does it with lots of nuance, options for players, freedom, and polish. You have a choice in how you develop in Dark Souls, you have a choice in which dungeon you go to next, you can take everything at your own pace and put 60 hours into the game or 150 it's up to you, and it's slickly designed in the combat, the bonfire system, upgrade system, farming, and exploring.

All you need to get through Dark Souls is some patience, a methodical mind-set, and tenacity. Dying makes you a stronger player, and the game does more than enough to meet you in the middle and give you the resources you need to win. You just have to be patient, learn, and fight well. Dark Souls does a great job to distance itself from hack & slash games, this game is absolutely not a hack & slash and if you try to play it like that by running up to every enemy and spamming attack button till enemies die and hoping to press some hotkey to quickly consume a potion, you're going to fail because you can't do any of that. It's all skill based and even the most simple of battles with an Undead Knight or a Giant can be very rewarding and satisfying.

Not very many games are made like Dark Souls, in fact there are no other games out there like Dark Souls. It'll let you use your brain in ways other games don't, it's unique, and feels very modern and polished while also feeling completely different than any other RPG and action game out there.

I always had trouble with demon souls.  I could never seem to finish the first area.  I fell off a stupid ledge at some point and got so annoyed that I quit for a year or so.  When my brother told me that he had beaten it, my jaw dropped to the floor.

It's overwhelming. I accidentally targeted the dragon at one point and thought, "You can fight that thing?!"

I feel you on the Demon's Souls frustration. That was the first review I did when I started PixlBit and man, I ripped it a new one. I had the hardest time with the game and really harbored a grudge against it for the longest time.

Towards the end of last year, Dark Souls came up for sale on Amazon for something like $12 shipped, so I picked up a copy and started on it. For some reason, it clicked. I think it ramps into the challenge a little bit more cleanly, and I think that the whole bonfire system makes it that much more approachable. Before long, I was completely hooked. I went on to beat the game and I really understood what people were raving over. It was a great game and suffice to say, probably one of the best of the generation.

Shortly before finishing up Dark Souls, I decided it was high time I revisit Demon's Souls, so I headed over to Gamestop and picked it up used (I sold my review copy after I hated it thoroughly). I started a fresh character from the beginning of the game and went to town. In around an hour, I made it past the bridge with the dragon, opened the gate, beat Phalanx and upgraded my character. I did all of this without dying (well, that's not totally true, I accidentally walked off the edge at one point...).

It became immediately obvious to me that the problem I had in my last playthrough was that I just didn't know what the hell I was doing. I was playing it completely wrong. Only through playing Dark Souls was I able to incrementally learn solid tactics that allowed me to be successful in Demon's Souls.

I hate to say it, but you might be better going through Dark Souls first and coming back to Demon's Souls. I think Dark Souls really eases you into the experience and gets you hooked on its particular brand of game cycle. I intend to play through Demon's Souls this summer, so maybe it's something we can all work through in a game club-esque fashion.

Demon's Souls doesn't tell you jack diddly squat. Maybe that's part of the appeal for some but man, I don't know what's going on, like you said. I don't know how the upgrade system works or about that weird item/armor burden thing or even how to change the equipped items (there are no options or buttons to change those!). I'm hesitant to buy Dark Souls right now because we're trying to save money for our move next month and I was playing Demon's Souls because it was free on PS+ (though I've wanted to try it for a long time). So I don't know. Maybe I just need to follow a detailed walkthrough for the first area so I'll have someone to tell to go back to the Nexus and talk to so-and-so to upgrade such-and-such and don't try the next part till you can afford whatever-it-is. But I wouldn't mind putting it off for the moment lol. When do you think you'll be starting?

Let's see - we're playing System Shock 2 right now for Backloggers, so it'll have to be after that. I can probably start in a couple weeks, once I knock that one off and any remaining review tasks I've got on my plate.

Maybe I'll put a call out to the community at large and we'll all go through it together. That seems like it'd be a ton of a fun. Might have some unique co-op opportunities that way as well.

That'd be cool. I don't have a shortage of games to keep me busy till then

The souls games are pretty brutal. I enjoyed my short time with Dark Souls but that's only because I had a best friend coaching me through it. Aka,I would have made a lot more mistakes if he hadn't been around.

I'm thinking of making friends with a walkthrough lol at least for the first area. The game doesn't tell you anything. Nick suggested I try Dark Souls first because it eases you into the experience better. I'd like to do that but I don't want to spend the money right now. Well, can't spend it more like

Limited funds,aye? I've been there. lol. Usually towards the end of the month I'm tapped out. Any left over money I have mostly goes to my electric bill on account its' payment schedule shuffles around.

Yeah, and we're moving next month. Nothing huge, just across town, but there's always extra expenses when moving.

Demon's Souls and LocoRoco. Two great tastes that taste great together.

Too bad you can't just press pause and kill the enemies any more, like you apparently could with Yellow Devil. lol

Oh, the rapid-fire pause trick for slo-mo? Yeah, doubt that will work on the PSP lol

Loco Roco is a good way to see what goes on inside my head 24/7.

That's kind of scary, Cary, but you must also be a very happy person lol

I am with you on Demon Souls. I played a little today and almost rage quit.

After talking with Nick (above) I think I'm gonna wait to continue till we can get some kind of group playthrough organized. A little moral support and motivation, you know. And it gives me a reason to take a break from it right now  I have plenty of other games to keep me busy in the mean time...

Demon's Souls will probably kick my arse,but I feel compelled to try it. I like games that make you think rather than hack n' slash your way through. I have enough patience to do it I think. Finding enough time is a whole other matter!

If you see my little conversation with Nick above, it looks like we're going to try and organize some sort of community playthrough of the game in the next month or two. I'd say wait for that if you can. Should be easier when your friends are suffering too lol

If you need help with ANYTHING at all, just send me a PM and I'll do what I can to get you through.

I'm working on a Dark Souls Walkthrough right now (Hopefully I'll start uploading it tomorrow or Thursday), so perhaps if you take a glimpse at it you'll possibly get it to 'click'.

But seriously though, if you need any help or pointers, or just want a general explaination of something, hit me up and I'll get you through bud!

Thanks! Yeah, I'm totally lost on how the upgrade system works and all that stuff. The game just doesn't bother to tell you lol. But Nick is talking about getting a community playthrough organized this summer, so I might put it off till then, though you'll definitely be my go-to guy for help when I do keep playing.

The upgrade system definitely takes a little getting used to and a lot of understanding, especially whenever it comes to scaling (E, D, C, B, A, and S) and how to properly allocate the stats. You'll get the hang of though, just don't give up!

I don't think Demon's Souls is for everybody.There's no harm in looking up strategies because pulling them off will still be difficult. I do feel that I become stronger every time I pick it up again. The game becomes familiar after a while and you start to see all the nuances of the game play, like Neo in the Matrix. 

I did make progress in that I think I can get back to the boss easier since I know the area and bad guys in it now. For me the frustration was losing all those souls again and again...

I didn't worry about recovering my body and souls. There is a magic ring that extends your health while in soul form. It can be found in world 1-1. 

I NEED THAT RING!! lol

If you make it to the top of the castle wall in world 1-1 where the blue face knight guards a fog door, keep going past him and ignore the fog door. Go into the tower and down the stairs to the bottom. There will be a corpse with a glowing light who has the "Cling Ring". It regen your health in spirit form.

I remember that tower! I saw bad guys coming up the stairs and I was like, "No way am I going down there!" But now I know it's worth it. Thanks for the tip!

Yeah. I don't care if I die in the game. I poke around every corner of the level before moving forward exploring. That's just the way I do it. I heard a podcast or read a forum post that said something like you shouldn't worry about collecting your body all the time or doing so will make you hate the game. Just move forward in spirit form and farm souls later. Defeating large bosses or mini bosses give you lots of souls anyway so you can still buy nice upgrades and things. If you have the "Cling Ring" I mentioned you will have a bit more of health in spirit form and just focus on strategy, kind of like chess really. Look at me! I'm not even an expert but I'm going all "Yargz" on you. LOL.

That sounds like good advice. It was losing the souls from a previous bloodstain that was making me so mad. I'm definitely gonna look for this Cling Ring you speak of

Boy, the Yellow Devil. I have the first Mega Man downloaded from the Virtual Console and I like the game, except that I'm stuck on that boss and it's a bitch to kill. I also don't think the famous pause trick works with the Wiimote.

I don't have the second LocoRoco, but I do own the first one. My cousins used to mock me because I liked it more than other games like SOCOM, but I didn't care. It's a very fun game.

I had a terrible time beating the Yellow Devil in Powered Up and I think that version has much more forgiving check points. And the stage is much harder in the origina! Lol

LocoRoco is so weird but it's sure fun too

You perfectly described my first experience with Metroid Prime 2.  I was terribly lost in that game and I spent several days just wandering until I gave up on it.  I wasted too much time with nothing to show for it and I was quite angry with the game.  So, I definitely feel your pain with Demon's Souls, because there's no greater crime a game can commit than to waste a player's time (which could be caused by anything).  Still, I saw you playing the game the other night, so you must have regained your motivation.

Don't you just love Ice Man's stage?  That damn chasm with the penguins and armed platforms was miserable in the NES version, and it was not any better in the remake.  I'd tell you to use the Magnet Beam, but where's the fun in that?  As for the Yellow Devil, just look out for the two blocks you have to do one jump over.  After you get past it, the stages and the following bosses become far more manageable.

By the way, which Raiden games are on that compilation?  I'm guessing the first two are on there, but does it also include Aces?

You must have seen me playing Demon's Souls that night that was so frustrating because I haven't touched it since then lol. I took a break and played through Uncharted 2, which was a ton of fun and took only a couple of days, a nice change of pace from the long games I've been playing lately. I'm not sure what to do now because I feel like I could go back to Demon's Souls now (thanks mostly to the encouragement of Yargz and asrealasitgets) but Nick DiMola is going to play it this summer and wants to get a community playthrough organized (see comments above). On one hand I don't want to wait that long but on the other I was the impetus for the idea and it would be cool to have a bunch of people to talk to about it as we're playing. So I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet

And since I was playing Uncharted 2 so much, I haven't gotten back to Mega Man yet. I was hoping to have it done by the end of the month...which is tomorrow. Doable, certainly, but we'll see if it happens.

As for Raiden Legacy, it's a little strange what's included. It has just the first game and then Raiden Fighters, Raiden Fighters 2, and Raiden Fighters: Jet. I've tried out the first game and it does control shockingly well. The touch controls are very responsive. There is just the small matter of my finger getting in the way sometimes. Makes me wish I had an iPad or the iPhone-sized iCade. It's fun though, so I'm looking forward to trying the other games

I think you should wait before jumping back into Demon's Souls.  If you're trying to organize a playthrough, it might help to motivate you and push you past the game's rough spots.  Also, as strange as this may sound, don't worry too much about losing souls; while having a higher level character might make some areas more manageable, this game can still be completed (and quickly, too) even at a low level.  So, don't focus on the loss, but rather what you can do to push ahead.  You can always return to an area later if you want to focus on just leveling your character.

And, it's a good thing you had Uncharted 2 to fall back on (as well as Mega Man).  Even with myself, I have to find something to shift my focus away from the grind or a roadblock.  It doesn't have to be a game, either.  Just recently I finished up Dynasty Warriors Strikeforce, which took around 80 hours, and I also started up God Eater Burst, which simply tossed me from one grind to the next.  Before I would play either one I would watch something or play a little Contra or Mega Man to break things up.

That is an odd sampling of Raiden games in that set.  While I can understand the omission of Raiden III and IV (although, I'm sure the iPhone can run them), Raiden II should have been there by default.  Still, at least it includes the three games from Raiden Fighters: Aces, which are arguably the best games in the series.  It's interesting what you said about the controls, though; there is a whole portion of HG101 devoted to iOS shooters that might interest you.  There's a great deal of discussion about how well the games play and how well they were ported, so take a look at it when you get the chance.  I'm just amazed as to how many shoot-em-ups are available for the device.

Finally, I had hoped to respond to you a little faster than this.  But, the cold I have at the moment is beating me down (two days in a row now) and it has made it difficult to keep up with site.

You're the second person to tell me not to sweat losing souls, so it sounds like I was approaching the game wrong in the first place. Yeah, I'm gonna wait to start back up again. Give me a chance to get through some other shorter games in the mean time

You spent 80 hours on a Dynasty Warriors game? Wow, you must have done everything and gotten all the trophies. I had no idea those games could have such long legs, though I'm guessing it gets repetitive after a while.

I'll definitely look at that HG101 page. I find that site kind of overwhelming just because there is so much information and I want to read it all lol. My wife actually got me their book on classic adventure games for Christmas last year (I think I mentioned that on 1UP) but I haven't gotten past the Introduction yet. Ugh, time. Anyway, I'm surprised how much I enjoy iOS gaming, though I don't see how anyone could use it to replace traditional gaming with it, console or handheld. I like physical buttons too much lol. But the App Store is the one place where that magical sense of discovery still exists for me. It's full of surprises (and a lot of crap but hey, ya gotta take the bad with the good).

And no worries about your timing. After all, it took me nearly two days to answer your first comment. Hope you're feeling better soon. My wife had a sinus infection over the weekend, so I definitely understand how that can keep you down.

That is unfortunate about the lack of editing in HG101 books. I didn't know that but typos usually don't bother me too much unless they're very egregious or extremely frequent. So I'll just have to find out how bad it is by reading lol. Personally, I like the GameSpite books Jeremy Parish puts out. They can be kind of expensive but I think he just sells them for whatever it costs to make them. They few that I have I got when I found a half off Groupon for Blurb, the website tha prints them.

That's a staggering number of iOS games! Wow, I can't imagine the total number of apps that came out during that time. I keep up with things via Touch Arcade, a website that just focuses on iOS games. They preview and review games but the best part is that app they have. It has a Watch List that you can put any game into, upcoming or already released, and it will automatically give you updates whenever anything happens with that game. So more than once I've seen a game that looked cool, added to my Watch List, and then a month or two later I get a notification that the price has dropped to free. Can't beat that  And I wouldn't have known otherwise. I've been meaning to do an iOS blog for a while now but haven't yet. Maybe soon...

My wife is doing better now that she's got an antibiotic, though her cough seems to be hanging on. It's hard to get enough sleep when you have an infant. My throat hurt for a couple of days but that's passed and hopefully was the worst I'm going to get from it all.

I just wanted to throw one more thing out there since I know you have a decent backlog. Have you ever looked into using Backloggery? I got on there in January and it's really helped me stay focused and finish things. And it's nice to look back and see when I got or beat a game. Anyway, I found out the other day that Aaron B is on there now and so I thought of you. You can add other users to your "multitap" and see what your friends have been playing as well as a sentence or two about their progress. Initially putting in your backlog is a little time consuming but maintaining it is easy after that if you stay on top of it. It's pretty cool. Anyway, just wanted to throw that out there in case you might be interested.

I want to get that Anatomy of Castlevania book but I want the larger version as Jeremy meant for it to be...but it's like $40 something  And I'll get to that iOS blog soon. Got a couple other blogs in various levels of in-progress to finish first.

As for my son, he avoided the worst of it all and just got a little congested, so that was good. He's already back to 100% and tiring me and my wife out lol

You should give Backloggerey another try and see if it works for you now. And they do have a random select option. It lets you select what systems to include and whether you've played it before or finished it or what, and then it breaks open a fortune cookie with a game inside (no joke lol). That might help you pick. Otherwise not sure what to tell you. That's a lot of choices! Maybe start with whatever is the oldest one?

I put only a handful of games I had already beaten on Backloggery, ones that I thought I might play some more still. It would be a convenient way to track all my games, though I'd be very selective about what iOS games to put on there (haven't put any yet) because it's so easy for those to stack up. So many are free O_O

Anyway, glad you're on there now. I got three people in my multitap, woot! I've taken a quick look at some of your games. You've got quite the collection on there.