Dark Souls

[Syl]

Definitely avoid the ghosts for now. That area only gets worse. Probably the hardest boss of the game lurks at the end, and I can say with certainty you just can't win yet. Go take on the bull again, for sure.

Those messages you're seeing now were left by other player. Their accuracy will depend on the integrity of whoever left it.

And, as you noted, mobility is really important. Tanking isn't viable against bosses until later, when you get better shields and armor.

Thank you for the tip issaikhaan ^^. I'll leave that fight for another day then. And thank you for the heads up about the writing. Some have been really helpful in pointing things out or giving a warning about traps, but I soon saw enough suspicious 'try jumping off here' into empty pits to realize all was not well :p.

I really like that you can see other players scribbles and their ghosts as you go along in a primarily single player game. I tend to enjoy single player content the most (or co-op with friends) more then playing with a lot of strangers, and it's an interesting way to give some extra life and interaction to the game without ruining that experience.

Play the game with PSN connected, it was designed to be played like that. Messages from other players are helpfull, and if you touch a bloodstain you can watch the last moments of their sorry lives. Other players can be summoned into your realm, but they aren't always friendly, it's pretty rare but you can be invaded. Another thing, unlike Demon's Souls there is no penalty for dying, if you died a lot in Demon Souls the world tendency would grow darker, making enemies much stronger. Makes sense huh, making things harder if you die a lot. But no more of that you can die at will

I really see no other way to play it now after seeing the full thing like it is meant to be played ^^. Also, I did actually manage to beat the bull.

He was still tough but I think I'm getting more used to the game and was able to dodge better. I was also able to get back to the tower a second time to do another dive at him. I'm really enjoying my bandit character as well.

Also...

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

I actually got quite a bit farther and got to the next boss battle against the stone guardians on top of the cathedral. It's tough :X. I had managed to summon an NPC (not a player) I met who gave me the summoning stone and that helped a lot. I died near the end of the fight though so I had to re-do it, and he wasn't there to be summoned again, so I think it's going to be a pretty rough fight now.

I think a good way to describe Dark Souls, besides amazing, would be a perpetual state of out of the frying pan and into the fire.