This was my first souls game and i died to the dredges at the very start of 1-1 about eight times in a row. Three hours later and I can clear through the entire area very quickly. The very noticeable improvement just from the learning the game without any statistical changes was quite the exciting and encouraging feeling at the time.
@@ProfessorBopper Heh, I do. ;) Also a suggestion from me: why not analyse all 5 worlds of Demon's Souls in seperate videos and explain the level design a bit and maybe even the atmosphere. I think that would be pretty neat, especially since noone has done that before.
great chill video. my introduction to the souls series was DS2 and ever since I feel like I missed something by not starting with D'sS or even DS1. thankfully, these videos exist. 16:33 Megaman X and RE4 come to mind instantly
I’ve only played one Megaman game (MM9 on easy mode lol) so I need to give X a try. DS2 is not a bad starting point (I think the game is really underrated and actually better than DS1) but it does have a very rough opening, especially if it’s your first game in the series. If you have the chance, I’d definitely go back and play DS1 and Demon’s Souls (although both versions of DeS are a pain to play because exclusivity), but I don’t think you miss out on anything playing the games out of order
Loved your video's style! It makes me think how the remake could be improved. Scraping the item burden entirely - but still having stockpile Thomas there, not strictly necessary anymore but would be similar to how other soulsborne games operate with item storing. Maybe even limit the max amount of herbs you can carry yourself! Speaking of Thomas, you also find the Jade Hair Ornament on 1-1, which also helps to guide the players to NPC quests. Also, something I realized the other day.. each of the archstones have a main "theme" regarding resources. Boletaria is all about the healing items, since you can farm all herbs there. Needing ore (specially hard/sharp, since they're more generic)? Stonefang is where you'll find a lot fo them (specially because of that crystal lizard cave). Tower of Latria is where you'll find mana regeneration times. Valley of Defilement is the place to go for status effect healing items (like poison and plague), plus some healing items as well. What about Shrine of Storms? It's where you go to farm EXP! It's even funny since the XP you get from other places is completely unbalanced when you compare them with 3-X.
Tomb Raider 2 is going back a ways but its opening level was well designed: 'The Great Wall' introduced a wide variety of mechanics and foreshadowing. It showed how Lara could navigate topography and environment in general by climbing, jumping, running to jump, using cracks to shimmy and diving underwater to find things. It showed you could find switches and keys. It also taught the player to move blocks. It taught the player to outrun envirinmental hazards and to watch out for traps such as spikes and hidden pits. It showed how effective the dual pistols were and that dodging and fliping while using them was important. It also taught you to use distance to advantage against enemies. It was a 15 minute level.
I should try that out at some point. I’ve never played a Tomb Raider game, so it could be an adjustment, but I’d be all in for it based on your description
@@ProfessorBopper Man, it looks like minecraft these days, it's that blocky. It would be quite the adjustment to make. 😂 Thx for the reply tho. Cannot wait for Demon's
If only they limited grasses you can carry at once like this (a little like bloodborne vials and sekiro emblems): Crescent : 20 Half : 10 Late : 5 Full : 3 New : 2 Dark : 1 It would not change early game but balance a lot the end game! (and also would help people manage inventory load by putting the excess in stockpiles thomas stock!) Very good video btw, keep it up!
I think that’s a good idea! I think even having a baseline of healing that you respawn with (10 crescent and 5 half) would make sure you never run out/have to grind while not always having access to the broken ones like new and dark grass Also, thanks for the compliment! I’ll sure try to keep it up 👍
Demon's Souls is one of the few games where I wanted to immediately play it again as soon as I beat it. I've lost count of the amount of times I've watched the Matthewmatosis commentary haha
Amazing video. I've played all the Souls games except for Demon's. I will be playing the remake though I've been tempted to get a PS3 to be able to play the original.
Ok. This was worth watching before the fe video, I actually overlooked how the first and second half of the levels act as microcosms of the gamellay itself. I did see the level as a microcosm of the general design of the game, just didn't recognize what you recognized in it. I did see the entire thing with how the enemies challenged you in different ways though, although I saw it more as in "how the environment impacts how you fight" rather than "training you in the ways of crowd control." Particularly the wooden platform with the two guards on the outside of the barracks stood out to me about the way the game handled its threats by obscuring the guy throwing bombs with the other, seeing it as the game teaching you about the importance of positioning. There is a lot of really good lessons this level teaches while challenging you. I also do just love the general structure of the level too, the first half is just you going around and around until you hit the shortcut, it's a very effective satisfying loop that feels great traversing, the general structure is great. I also know one lesson Demon's teaches in this level with its items, when the ball from the staircase drops it breaks an obstacle behind you that kept you from getting an item. The item is the bastard sword, I think it does a great job of teaching how having a keen memory can help you in the long run, which is a fundamental part of utilizing world tendency in Demon's Souls, since you can get various items and weapons like that. There's probably other things I'm missing about this level, but it's that fantastic of a first level tbh, there is so much to talk about pertaining to its design that it stands up incredibly high. It's always the great start to my favorite souls game ever.
Amazing video. Thanks to you I think I can analyze my games in a better way when I’m playing. You are really teaching how to enjoy them as if they were fine art.
i mean it's clear everything has been carefully designed to teach players things about the world and how to approach problems, but one thing this video doesn't address is how the game unintentionally teaches players to poorly approach fighting. By that I mean turtling instead of preparation and problem solving. I really hope they improve on that aspect somewhat in the remake, especially since they did a real good job of fixing that in sekiro and bloodborne, of course without sapping what's unique from it.
Obviously Fromsoft had learned a lot by the time they made Sekiro. That game also had a very good opening gambit.
This was my first souls game and i died to the dredges at the very start of 1-1 about eight times in a row. Three hours later and I can clear through the entire area very quickly. The very noticeable improvement just from the learning the game without any statistical changes was quite the exciting and encouraging feeling at the time.
*talks about two spear guys being a threat and beating them with Firebombs while showing two Swordsmen :D
Tom Rieger lol I caught that mistake too late and I knew someone would catch it and see my shame!
@@ProfessorBopper Heh, I do. ;) Also a suggestion from me: why not analyse all 5 worlds of Demon's Souls in seperate videos and explain the level design a bit and maybe even the atmosphere. I think that would be pretty neat, especially since noone has done that before.
great chill video. my introduction to the souls series was DS2 and ever since I feel like I missed something by not starting with D'sS or even DS1. thankfully, these videos exist.
16:33 Megaman X and RE4 come to mind instantly
I’ve only played one Megaman game (MM9 on easy mode lol) so I need to give X a try.
DS2 is not a bad starting point (I think the game is really underrated and actually better than DS1) but it does have a very rough opening, especially if it’s your first game in the series. If you have the chance, I’d definitely go back and play DS1 and Demon’s Souls (although both versions of DeS are a pain to play because exclusivity), but I don’t think you miss out on anything playing the games out of order
Loved your video's style! It makes me think how the remake could be improved.
Scraping the item burden entirely - but still having stockpile Thomas there, not strictly necessary anymore but would be similar to how other soulsborne games operate with item storing. Maybe even limit the max amount of herbs you can carry yourself!
Speaking of Thomas, you also find the Jade Hair Ornament on 1-1, which also helps to guide the players to NPC quests.
Also, something I realized the other day.. each of the archstones have a main "theme" regarding resources. Boletaria is all about the healing items, since you can farm all herbs there. Needing ore (specially hard/sharp, since they're more generic)? Stonefang is where you'll find a lot fo them (specially because of that crystal lizard cave). Tower of Latria is where you'll find mana regeneration times. Valley of Defilement is the place to go for status effect healing items (like poison and plague), plus some healing items as well. What about Shrine of Storms? It's where you go to farm EXP! It's even funny since the XP you get from other places is completely unbalanced when you compare them with 3-X.
Tomb Raider 2 is going back a ways but its opening level was well designed: 'The Great Wall' introduced a wide variety of mechanics and foreshadowing. It showed how Lara could navigate topography and environment in general by climbing, jumping, running to jump, using cracks to shimmy and diving underwater to find things. It showed you could find switches and keys. It also taught the player to move blocks. It taught the player to outrun envirinmental hazards and to watch out for traps such as spikes and hidden pits. It showed how effective the dual pistols were and that dodging and fliping while using them was important. It also taught you to use distance to advantage against enemies. It was a 15 minute level.
I should try that out at some point. I’ve never played a Tomb Raider game, so it could be an adjustment, but I’d be all in for it based on your description
@@ProfessorBopper Man, it looks like minecraft these days, it's that blocky. It would be quite the adjustment to make. 😂
Thx for the reply tho.
Cannot wait for Demon's
If only they limited grasses you can carry at once like this (a little like bloodborne vials and sekiro emblems):
Crescent : 20
Half : 10
Late : 5
Full : 3
New : 2
Dark : 1
It would not change early game but balance a lot the end game! (and also would help people manage inventory load by putting the excess in stockpiles thomas stock!)
Very good video btw, keep it up!
I think that’s a good idea! I think even having a baseline of healing that you respawn with (10 crescent and 5 half) would make sure you never run out/have to grind while not always having access to the broken ones like new and dark grass
Also, thanks for the compliment! I’ll sure try to keep it up 👍
Asleep: Crowd control is an important skill that players need to learn, and 1-1 teaches them effectively
Woke: haha firebombs go brrrrrrrr
Fire Emblem and the Souls series? You're a man after my own heart. Subscribed! Looking forward to whatever you produce next!
Demon's Souls is one of the few games where I wanted to immediately play it again as soon as I beat it. I've lost count of the amount of times I've watched the Matthewmatosis commentary haha
Amazing video. I've played all the Souls games except for Demon's. I will be playing the remake though I've been tempted to get a PS3 to be able to play the original.
Hope you enjoy the remake! Demon’s is so good
Great video! Looking forward to seeing your channel grow
Thanks!
Ok.
This was worth watching before the fe video, I actually overlooked how the first and second half of the levels act as microcosms of the gamellay itself. I did see the level as a microcosm of the general design of the game, just didn't recognize what you recognized in it. I did see the entire thing with how the enemies challenged you in different ways though, although I saw it more as in "how the environment impacts how you fight" rather than "training you in the ways of crowd control." Particularly the wooden platform with the two guards on the outside of the barracks stood out to me about the way the game handled its threats by obscuring the guy throwing bombs with the other, seeing it as the game teaching you about the importance of positioning. There is a lot of really good lessons this level teaches while challenging you.
I also do just love the general structure of the level too, the first half is just you going around and around until you hit the shortcut, it's a very effective satisfying loop that feels great traversing, the general structure is great.
I also know one lesson Demon's teaches in this level with its items, when the ball from the staircase drops it breaks an obstacle behind you that kept you from getting an item. The item is the bastard sword, I think it does a great job of teaching how having a keen memory can help you in the long run, which is a fundamental part of utilizing world tendency in Demon's Souls, since you can get various items and weapons like that.
There's probably other things I'm missing about this level, but it's that fantastic of a first level tbh, there is so much to talk about pertaining to its design that it stands up incredibly high. It's always the great start to my favorite souls game ever.
Amazing video. Thanks to you I think I can analyze my games in a better way when I’m playing. You are really teaching how to enjoy them as if they were fine art.
Excellent analysis as usual however I must protest and say that the shitty poison levels are the best parts of every soul's game including Sekiro
i mean it's clear everything has been carefully designed to teach players things about the world and how to approach problems, but one thing this video doesn't address is how the game unintentionally teaches players to poorly approach fighting.
By that I mean turtling instead of preparation and problem solving.
I really hope they improve on that aspect somewhat in the remake, especially since they did a real good job of fixing that in sekiro and bloodborne, of course without sapping what's unique from it.
based des fan
Shot out to acornfilms!
I hear souls Miyazaki and studio ghibli Miyazaki are really the same person just split into two personalities, each counterbalancing the other
I like Demons Souls, but i hate that you don't have a jumping attack
Eventually I'll be able to play Demons Souls. Eventually. Probably when I get to play Bloodborne. Darn console exclusivity >.