Dark Souls

[OL]

Shibuya:
That’s right. I think part of the allure is the “sense of adventure.” I really want to convey the feeling of advancing one step at a time and groping your way forward.

That's exactly the kind of thing I'm loving so much about the game so far.
Seems like the sequel is in good hands.

And just as a side-note: Gwynevere is the greatest gaming character ever created.
And yes, I equipped the binoculars the first time I met her.

[Tuffty]

How could you not? Lol Congrats on getting past O & S. I love that feeling as well, of going to places and feeling like "I should not be here...". Which is what DS does so well, that sense of the unknown around every turn and the hidden depth to be discovered. Even on NG + I have found things I hadn't learned before. Even a "secret" which if you do, creates a permanent change in the environment and opens up a new area which leads to a hidden boss. Love that.

[OL]

Just beat it last night.

Gwyn was intimidating as hell the first few tries, but then I started using the same tactic I did against electric-Smough: using the environment to impede his movement. I got by the little grouping of rocks near the entrance and just started strafing around it, keeping them between me and Gwyn. Some of his hits would connect with my shield, but most would miss since he presses himself up against the rocks so hard. Then, when he inevitably tries his grab me at some point (the only time he ever really slows down) I'd lay a single good smack on him with my weapon (a fully-upgraded Dragon Tooth, so it takes some pretty good health out of him). Rinse and repeat.
Seemed almost impossible for me to beat without that tactic. Looked up strategies on gamefaqs after I beat him, and no one seemed to mention the same thing. As accomplished as I felt after beating him to begin with, the fact that I used a strategy that no one else was mentioning made me feel even more accomplished.

I do have to say though, the ending was pretty disappointing. I was expecting at least a little more. A flythrough of Lordran to show what happens to it afterward would have been nice. Something like that. But no, it just... ends.
Still pretty excited to play Demon's Souls though. And to see what comes of Dark Souls 2.
This game really took me by surprise. I didn't expect to love it so much. And even further, it actually invigorated an interest in medieval fantasy for me. Previously I was never really all that interested in the standard dragons, swords, & sorcery stuff. Nothing against it, I just never felt very compelled by it. Dark Souls pretty much single-handedly changed that.

[Henry Spencer]

^Read Berserk. Thank me later.

[OL]

Looks like I might have to.

[Tuffty]

Congrats OL! Glad to hear you enjoyed it. Now play it on NG+ or with a different character Planning to get the DLC sometime soon, see what that looks like.

[OL]

Started Demon's Souls.
Heh. "Started".
I'm already about 20 hours in.
Addicting as hell. It's harder than Dark Souls though. Initially it seems easier, but as you progress it starts to set in how much steeper the spike in difficulty becomes.
The Flamelurker boss is incredibly hard for a melee character like mine. Whereas in Dark Souls it seemed to be a little more "open" in terms of letting you choose how you want to approach everything, this one is a little more specific in the strategies you need to use for certain bosses. And if you choose to try a different strategy... well, good luck to you. I did that with the Flamelurker. My magic abilities are shite all around, so I had to attempt to find moments to go close-quarters... and that just multiplies the difficulty tenfold, it seems.
Still a great game though, and I'm loving the atmosphere yet again. Also, I like that the story and lore elements are a little more up-front. They aren't in-your-face or anything; there's still a sense of "quiet" to the contextual background of it all. But it is a little easier to get a grasp on what's happening in which areas, who each character is, etc. I actually hope Dark Souls 2 is a little more like this, and a little less reliant on item descriptions to get background on the story.

Very likely I'll be done with this in about a week though, so I was wondering: can anyone recommend any good medieval fantasy games with a similar vibe?
Something smaller-scale, something dark, something focused on single-character advancement. Not a bunch of epic battles, or travelling between kingdoms, or a party of characters. I'm probably just looking for a dungeon crawler (I keep getting the urge to go through Vagrant Story again).
The King's Field games (specifically the PS2 one) and Shadow Tower come to mind of course. I was just looking into Eternal Ring, which look like it might be alright.
I've never been all that interested in medieval fantasy before until I experienced the darker and slightly less-bombastic style of Dark/Demon's Souls, so it's not something I've looked into before.
Any suggestions?

[Axm]

I prefered Demons Souls more honestly. I liked the central hub and an actual magic bar. I hope those aspects make a come back in Dark Souls 2.

[Henry Spencer]

Very likely I'll be done with this in about a week though, so I was wondering: can anyone recommend any good medieval fantasy games with a similar vibe?
Something smaller-scale, something dark, something focused on single-character advancement. Not a bunch of epic battles, or travelling between kingdoms, or a party of characters. I'm probably just looking for a dungeon crawler (I keep getting the urge to go through Vagrant Story again).
The King's Field games (specifically the PS2 one) and Shadow Tower come to mind of course. I was just looking into Eternal Ring, which look like it might be alright.
I've never been all that interested in medieval fantasy before until I experienced the darker and slightly less-bombastic style of Dark/Demon's Souls, so it's not something I've looked into before.
Any suggestions?

I'm afraid that the likes of Vagrant Story, Demon's Souls & Dark Souls are a rarity. Single playable character RPGs are unfortunately, very rare indeed. The Witcher series may be for you, though, you only play as Geralt throughout, yes there's other people on your side, but they're normally off doing their own thing and join you temporarily. I have these games in my backlog myself but the bit I played of the first one was pretty darn good (a bit janky though).

How about Baroque for PS2? That has some very interesting parts to it, like the more times you die, the more the mysterious storyline unfolds to you. The game seems to be set in a hellish, dark place where you do nothing but dungeon crawling. No other party members at all either, game looked really atmospheric to me and Sting make some very interesting RPGs, like From Software do. And there's also Drakengard 2, where it seems to be like you do a lot of dungeon crawling and knowing Cavia, the story will be really good (and incredibly atmospheric). That, and the fact that the combat looked waaaay better than Drakengard 1's means you'll probably like it more than the first.

Again, other games in my big backlog, lol. They just came to me now.

[Tuffty]

The Witcher 2 is a great shout. Playing as a single character in a dark fantasy setting of political intrigue and conspiracy. You are pushed along where you have to make choices which have an impact on the story, but the choices aren't as clear cut as Mass Effects paragon/renegade system, they're all very shades of grey. And they matter, the decisions you make absolutely have an impact on not only the story but the gameplay. The combat is difficult and takes a while to get used much like Dark Souls. But you get stronger, you adapt and then eventually you are taking on groups of enemies feeling like a badass, even though the difficulty is maintained throughout. Get careless and you will die. I would highly recommend it, I would go so far as to say it is one of the most engaging and immersive games of this console generation. A complex narrative, full of character, an excellent script and a rich gaming environment. It's an RPG with an incredible amount of depth that makes it impossible for you to discover in one playthrough and with the choices that are asked of you, you will want to replay it again and find out how you could take the story differently.

[Segata Sanshiro Jr.]

I'm just going to toss out Zill O'll, its a pretty good old fashioned RPG with a darker mood, and it won't break the bank.

[Spokane]

Thats been on my list. And has grabbed my attention more since I saw you playing it.

[OL]

Yeah, I'd been thinking about the Witcher before. One that I always figured I'd get to eventually, but I'm still not sure if I'm exacty in the mood for it yet.
And yeah, Baroque looks ace. Almost strikes me as if Shin Megami Tensei were a dungeon crawler. Definitely interested in that at some point.
And I'd actually been eyeing Zill O'll kind of recently. I think there's a demo on PSN, right? May have to try that out.

Thinking harder on it now though, I think one of the things I'm also looking for is that similar sense of "quiet" that the Souls games offer. It's kind of a hard sensation to nail down in simple terms. It kind of entails a lot of vagueness to the narrative. Not so much that you don't know what's going on, but enough that things aren't being forced in your face. It also seems to require a slight sense of loneliness as well, but not so much that it feels like Silent Hill or anything.
Probably kind of an odd thing to be looking for in a game, but I have found that From Software are practically experts at it. Almost any other game I've played by them has that similar vibe; the Echo Night games have it, the Otogi games have it, Kuon has it, and most of the Armored Core games have it (despite being more sci-fi than supernatural). I mentioned Vagrant Story before because I feel that it sort of has it as well, despite being a bit more direct than From's games generally are.
I might just indulge in more of From's previous works in light of all that. Looks like Shadow Tower and Eternal Right are available at my local game store, so I may snatch those up.

And staying on-topic, Demon's Souls definitely feels more difficult than Dark Souls now. I just came up against a few enemies that broke my shield in only a few hits. Never had that happen in Dark Souls. Equipment seems to be a bit more brittle in this one, so it's just one more thing to be worried about the whole time.

[Axm]

Just beat Demon's Souls. What a wild ride that was. The King Alant fight at the end of the Boletarian Palace stage was the bitch to end all bitches. Unlike the boss of Dark Souls, it just takes place in a big, empty room, so there was nowhere that I could get behind to act as "cover". Had to get really good at dodging, and had to completely change my usual equipment load so that I'd be light enough to roll properly.
The ending to the game was much, much better than in Dark Souls though. I actually understood what was going on. Kind of an important factor. And the Old One was just surreal enough to creep me the hell out.

Having played them both, I think I like Dark Souls more, but both games had their obvious advantages.
Demon's Souls had, in my eyes, the better implementation of a story and a slightly better personality to it (which counts for a lot). And that King Alant fight was a definite highlight for me (best one-on-one, human vs. human fight in the series so far, for my money)
Dark Souls had the better visual design and music, though, and made all the right tweaks to the areas of leveling up and equipment modifying.
Dark Souls 2 can't come out soon enough. I haven't felt this satisfied with pure RPG character development in a long time.

[Tuffty]

Been tempted to buy a PS3 for Metal Gear, Yakuza 4, ICO/SOTC collection and now, more importantly, Demons Souls.