Dark Souls 1 is BETTER at LEVEL 1! Here's Why!
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Welcome to the Level 1 Run 0:00
Part 1: And Then There Were Two...
Asylum Demon 1:39
Tarus Demon 3:23
Enemy Design 4:17
Gargoyle Demons 5:55
Enemies Teach the Player 6:53
Capra Demon 8:00
Gaping Demon 8:24
Difficulty 9:21
Blighttown 12:07
Quelagg 12:50
A Fast Traveless World 14:11
Sens Fortress 16:11
Iron Golem 18:02
The Catacombs 20:39
Anor Londo 22:51
The Jank 23:52
Smough & Ornstein 24:41
Part 2: To Hell and Back… 27:50
Cheeseless Discharge 28:21
Firesage Demon 29:37
Centipede Demon 30:04
Bed of Crap 30:38
Pinwheel 31:28
Tomb of the Giants 32:58
Gravelord Nito 34:59
Moonlight Magic Spam 35:54
Sif 36:06
New Londo 36:38
Four Kings 38:41
Stay Demon 39:26
You're an Archeologist 40:12
The Painted World 41:25
Crossbreed Priscilla 42:00
Hogwarts 42:50
Seath the Scaleless 44:02
Gwyndolin 44:59
The Problem With DS1 Endgame 45:47
Part 3: The Dark Heart of Man…
Sanctuary Guardian 46:59
Artorias of the Abyss 48:13
Oolacile 50:03
Black Dragon Kalameet 50:28
Manus, Father of the Abyss 52:05
The Story of Dark Souls 56:18
Gwyn, Lord of Cinder 58:07
Push Past Your Limits! 1:00:02
I had to edit out Gwyn's Theme due to a copyright claim, AND THAT'S MY FAVORITE SONG IN THE GAME! I'm very upset! Things to correct: 1: I have no idea what T-minus means. 2: Apparently you only have to do the rafters to get back to Gwyndolin if you kill the Firekeeper as you leave, since it would auto spawn me at the entrance of Anor Londo no matter what bonfire I last rested at. 3: Please stop telling me New Londo is good if you use transient curse. It's literally enemies spam with wonky hitboxes who can travel through walls. I dislike New Londo with or without transient curse and I'm not going to fight 100 enemy spam ghosts that hit me through walls at level 1 just to get a key.
So I just completed a SL1 run of this game and I did notice the gwyndolin fight does love to tp you to the firekeeper if you die. Fortunately you can just tp back to gwyndolin so it’s not the worst but still dumb. Also, New Londo didn’t feel any worse than a normal run for me. I ran past the ghosts and got the seal key first try(good ladder rng), ran over and broke the seal then boned out. Restocked estus, threw on full havel, and ran straight to the four kings fight. The run to four kings is always long but it’s so much easier if instead of going left up the stairs you turn right(toward the firekeeper soul) and drop onto the wall and then onto the ground. You’ll have to run past three dickwraiths and one ghost but you won’t have to worry about any of the rest of the level. I’m currently at the song demon in my SL1 ds2 play through and I have a feeling it’s all uphill from there. Im pretty sure I’ve already dealt with the worst that the game has to offer by this point
btw one thing I want to mention is that new game+ is also kind of valid, cuz even with lots of vit you take lots of damage. In new game +6 I finally had to suck it up and play patient on orstein and smough because they did so much damage and I couldn't tank lots of hits. But it only really makes the hardest bosses harder though, the easier bosses don't get much harder. Another critique is soul lvl 1 isnt challenging for lots of dark Souls vets including me as I expect dark Souls vets to at least know how to get through some areas fast. Otherwise, as far as I've seen, this is actually really smart and I may try this on other ds games. Great video, just two sma critiques. Wish you the best for the rest of your day.
I like the second-half of New Londo.
New londo is not good, but I feel that by skipping the shortcut(s) it is a lot harder then it has any right being. on the open air bridge with arches is a ladder you can jump to from just before climbing the stairs into the first building after you drain the water you can drop down onto the outside portion with the Dark wraiths each time cutting out more and more of the run back.
Ive completed new londo sl 1 since forever, and yeah, New londo is good. Top tier athmosphere and level placement
"The point of a lvl 1 run is not to flex about how good you are at the game, it is to feel like you are bad at it again " Truer words were never spoken, my friend
Feeling lost in Blight Town? Try going all the way down the Tomb of Giants before getting the Lord Vessel with no light because you missed the bridge in Anor Londo that connects to the room with the entry to the Painted World. Bonus points if you kill everything and get every item in the Tomb of Giants because you think you must have missed something and refuse to look into a guide.
That arch to the rafter building looks so much like a surface you will slide off from, really trecherous. I was lucky that I happened to try it.
Bruh that was literally my first and second playthrough lmfao. The second time was even more frustrating cause as soon as i saw the yellow fog wall i got so mad at myself for being dumb a second time lmfao
I did that once.
you think thats bad ? i thought raw upgrade was the best upgrade for weapons in dark souls 2 and actually finished the game this way on my first playthrough after dying about 10.000 times for those that dont know raw removes strength and dex scaling from weapons meaning my damage output was extremely weak i remember fume knight taking 20+ minutes i just assumed the game was supossed to be this hard 😂
Think i did this on my 1st play
17:29 Dark Souls 1 absolutely was based around having some guidance, its part of the social aspect of the game, messages provide this but I honestly think DS1 was designed with talking to your friends about it in mind.
Seconded, I feel like you can see this really easily just by looking at Firelink. When I first played the game I didn't see the hill leading up to the burg, so I just pounded my head against the graveyard until a friend filled me in on the direction I was supposed to go
dude there is shit in ds games i have no idea how anyone found out.
@@humpteedumptee8629 Metadata. People cracked basically every souls game and have access to every quest, item, NPC, etc
@@humpteedumptee8629Well, messageboards were probably a HUGE help with everyone sharing tidbits of info until the puzzle was solved… Add on the fact that developers might have filled their friends in on some secrets and word just got around on the internet. Also someone mentioned earlier, metadata
@@CharlieTooHuman yea i figured the internet lol. personally im not a read the items to get lore kinda guy. i think inventory hints can be dope though. like in MGS2 to get merls codec info. or in re2re theres a code on the back of an item you gota flip.
I think after getting good at all the souls games, the one that made me learn new stuff and turn into a noob again was Sekiro. I look at that game in very high regard.
I haven't played Sekiro yet. I just bought it today and plan on making a critique at some point in the near future. Maybe after bloodborne and DS3 critiques are finished.
@@feebleking21 can't wait to see a sekiro video, just found your channel today been binging it lmao good stuff
Agreed. Loved how Sekiro was able to make me feel uncomfortable and challenged again, even after getting familiar with the other games in the series. Makes me hope that fromsoft is planning to make more games like Sekiro that shake up the souls formula.
Hard Agree! I thought I would never get that feeling again even after SL1 runs in DS1, DS2 and DS3. Then Sekiro comes out and OMG that feeling again! Even my brother who's into action games like Ninja Gaiden and not into Souls games got into it.
@@feebleking21 are you going to review Demons souls?
There's actually an item in the dlc that deflects Manus's magic attacks. I think its called the Silver Pendant which i didnt know about until recently playing the game again after elden ring
He doesn’t believe in that
Pyro doesn't start with it so he's not using it.
@@shadow105720that's not the item he means at all you can't even start with silver pendant
@@AltAccount-dz8rp exactly. You can't start with the silver pendant so it isn't valid for the challenge.
@@shadow105720??? You can't start with a weapon either, or any rings
I'm on my first ever run of DS1, for my very first souls game. I just got out of the asylum for the first time last night lol, and I'm already enjoying the game so much. I'm a little scared of what's coming ahead of me, but also excited to jump into this franchise with an open mind. I did not think this video came from such a small channel! I clicked it without thinking, and the storytelling drew me in. I loved your commentary, and the thoughts you have on every aspect of the game, and how indepth you go into all of it. This is extremely high quality, and you'll be a big channel in no time!
This sounds exactly like the cadence of the author of the video. Did you just write yourself a glowing positive comment? It’s obvious
@@Ares78987 lmao stop schizo posting
Why would you watch a full essay about darksouls before playing the game? You basically spoiled everything the game had to offer/surprise you with??? Literally ruined your experience. I get looking up a guide if you’re stuck but you basically know everything now. Dumb decision
Once you get in to the mechanics trust me. The Dark Souls games arent really bad. Just play a little cautious when you run in to a new Boss/Enemy and try to get a glimpse of their move set. After that the games become really well balanced and designed. (except for one edition) And if you have the Chance try Bloodborne too. And if you dont have a Playstation to play it....when you got something like 10Mb download rate you can also get PS Now for Pc which are 10 bucks monthly fee but you can play games like Bloodborne on PC kinda. Admitting you are streaming the game from a Sony Server. So sometimes it can be lagging but if your internet is at least 10MB download or higher you should be able to play it almost lag free. Also Skip Dark Souls 2 Scholar of the First Sinn. Its bad. REALLY BAD. I would say skip Dark Souls 2 in general but i got to admit...Dark Souls 2 (vanilla) is SO MUCH MORE playable than Dark Souls 2 SotfS Edition.
@@Ares78987Who hurt you?
I'm confused about your choice of boss run for the Four Kings, i always just take the first ladder shortcut and then jump off to the right and go through the room with the darkwraiths and the big slime monster. That way i dont have to fight any ghosts and I'm at the boss door in about a minute, and the only time i fight any ghosts at all i use a transient curse to open the flood gates etc. Personally i prefer New Londo out of all of the late game areas
There’s an even shorter path, from fire link you cross the bridges that lead to the beginning of the area, past the first two ghosts in the area to the right (opposite side from the fire keeper soul) there’s a ledge that you can drop from that will directly lead to the lowest part of new londo, you can then proceed to the boss
@@lightbrand_ this. I always use this path. Don't even fight any ghosts.
I always go from Darkroot Basin
Darkroot Basin is the best coz you don't fight anything. You just run past a few drakes and 1 Darkwraith and then drop down to the boss room. Done
@@paid14 same
Man, this video takes me back to when I did my first sl1 run a few years back. Normally I don't comment on videos but I just wanted to say that as a souls vet this video was a breath of fresh air and a really well put together peice of content. 11/10 stuff :)
Thanks, I'm happy you liked it 👍
I'm currently trying to beat my sl1 run trying to beat the bed of chaos. I'm going to try to beat it sl1 ng+7 but that's a while away
@@fiddlestickjones what is sl1 run?
@@andrejz8954 Soul level 1. A run without leveling
I forgot to explain it in the video, but for anyone wondering what Berserk is it's the GREATEST MANGA OF ALL TIME! And some Dark Souls enemies are references to Berserk, like the wheel skeletons by pinwheel that are in the manga.
I watched berserk 1997 a few weeks ago and I loved it. I think I’m going to start reading the manga again.
Legend of the Galactic heroes >>>>>>>
I was one of those that never found the key or bonfire in Sen's Fortress, it was pretty brutal. Loved it.
Really bundles a video essay, challenge run and tier list into one video. What a legend
Absolutely amazing video bro. This will simmer on KZhead and get the deserved recognition soon enough. Excited for one of these for all the games hopefully
No move has ever scared me as much as Ornsteins gap closer. On the topic of lategame areas, except for the Duke's Archives which I personally do like quite a bit, I'm glad I watched quite a few speedruns back in the day so I know the best ways to traverse them as quick as possible lmao. Anyways, SL1 is a fun challenge. I did 4kings with RTSR, which meant basically not getting hit almost any time but I had a lot of fun learning their moveset and mastering it, as opposed to tanking them with havel's, which is how I beat them the first time I played.
I think I would like doing 4king lvl 1 without havels armor, but I really really don't enjoy the new londo boss run at all so I just didn't do it.
@@feebleking21 From what I saw in the video, that's because you don't seem to know about the OTHER shortcut besides the elevator in new londo. What you gotta do is, instead of going up the stairs, go to the right from where you see the first two ghosts and drop down (you can see where it's safe to drop). This way you avoid the small corridors full of ghosts and you'll find yourself in the lower level with the darkwraiths and pretty much next to the boss gate. Don't get me wrong, it's definitely an annoying boss run (like pretty much every other boss run in this game haha) but it makes it a million times more bearable.
@@CruelusRex oh i see. Well if I knew that then maybe I would have tried to do 4 kings without Havel's armor. Of course it sounds like a more hidden shortcut, but I guess that's dark souls 1 for ya. Secretes ontop of secretes and I'm sure I'll never even know every single one.
@@feebleking21 it’s hardly hidden at all, that was how I got to four kings on the boss run in my very first play through. Also you are just deliberately torturing yourself in your gwyndolin boss run. Just start at gwynevere and your boss run is infinitely easier and at least three times as fast
@@ryan3470 solid point. You should make a video complaining about my critique for me to respond to, first
Arguably one of the best videos I've seen on Dark Souls I also really enjoy your Dark Souls 2 critique very excited to be a subscriber, top tier content looking forward to seeing what you do next 👊🔥
wonderful video, really loved it your love for the series is so apparent and its awesome
So glad I discovered this channel! Really enjoy your content!
Started watching your videos yesterday and you have earned yourself a subscriber. These videos are extremely engaging and you have a great ability to get your points across really well. Looking forward to whatever you plan to make in the future
Thank you, I enjoyed reading your comment!
This video made me love ds1 even more than I already did. Sl1 has always been my favourite challenge run and I have done it in every souls game I played. I love how playing at lvl1 forces you to think through your every decision
Yo only have 7k subs wht. Amazing video, great dedication, good storytelling, nice gameplay, scene choices, great organisation, 10/10 overall, great job. If u keep up this lvl of quality, the subs will eventually come dw.
love the effort you put into this bro
This feeling of getting to re-experience your original playthrough of the game is exactly what I felt when I played Celeste again on controller, being a mouse and keyboard only gamer for well over a decade, and when I played Sekiro in no charm+bell demon.
Proud to be your 1000th sub, awesome content man
Lets goooooo!
Im a huge souls fan and I devour any and all souls content and I just discovered your elden ring videos and I really like your vids. I assume you are fairly new to yt or I would have found your channel by now but i want to tell you, I love the channel and keep up the good work. I agree fully with your elden ring take and I enjoyed the ds2 vid. I subbed and I hope your channel grows immensely. 👍
I was so proud when I finished my LV1 run. It was hard but so much fun and even if I suffered it was so cool
Your analysis of the Asylum Demon is PERFECT. I’ve always said the same thing about how the level is a part of the boss whenever somebody talks about what the best intro boss is, but everybody always says the Asylum Demon sucks. They don’t understand that the intro to Dark Souls is literally the entire game loop condensed into one area, and usually whenever a poll comes up about the best first boss, either Margit or Gundyr win, but neither of them teach the player anything they wouldn’t have learned from the regular enemies in the tutorial areas.
What part of the Asylum Demon condenses the game loop in one area? Also, why do you think Gundyr and Margit teaches nothing from the regular enemies?
@@mecromelon6717 This is really really long, no pressure to read it all. So the Asylum Demon is a challenge that a first time player can’t beat, forcing them to pay attention to the arena, where a convenient side path is open. It encourages you to look around. Then, you’re placed in a hallway where you have a disadvantage, but you can use the cell on your side as cover and grab a shield, showing you that even though you’re at a disadvantage you can use the tools and your surroundings to overcome it. It then introduces you to environmental hazards in the form of the large rolling ball, which opens a path to an NPC that gives you healing items and sets up your journey for the rest of the game. Then you fight your first group of enemies, with a ranged on there to back you up, but again you can separate them by using the fence to block off the ranged enemy, allowing you to pick up just a little bit of how aggro works. Continue on and you find a door you can’t unlock yet, signaling that you need to return to the area later. Finally, by going through the fog wall, you quite literally get the drop on Asylum Demon, taking out nearly half his health. Because you explored off the most obvious path, you were rewarded with a weapon, an NPC, and a chance to learn how to engage with enemies, before being brought back to the fight again with numerous new resources and new knowledge of how the game works, and you’re given a chance to do a very powerful attack. The plunge attack makes this moment memorable and it sticks with you throughout your whole playthrough, and the lessons you learned will always sit in the back of your head. It subconsciously teaches you that exploring will massively reward you. The whole rest of the game, maybe save the rushed endgame, is like this. Multiple paths you can take that always lead to something, alternate ways to take on challenges by being creative, NPC’s you have to explore to find that reward you, things to come back to and resources in every area that help you take on the next challenge. You’re constantly learning in Dark Souls, no matter what, and I feel like Asylum Demon is the perfect introduction to that cycle of exploring, being rewarded, and testing our your new knowledge. Gundyr exists to show you that bosses have multiple phases and that the pace of the game is quicker. However the level itself feels disconnected from the boss. I feel like the level itself doesn’t have a learning curve like the Asylum does. Instead you fight one enemy, grab a flask, kill a ranged enemy, get to a bonfire. Kill one more enemy, grab a titanite shard, drop onto another, kill a ranged enemy, and then you’re at the boss. I feel like the level doesn’t do enough to encourage you to explore it since the one path you can explore is has an enemy that is absolutely going to kill a new player and signals to them that they aren’t prepared for that yet. Since there’s nothing else to explore besides a few little nooks with items, it does an okay job with this, but not as well as I think it should’ve. In the case of the Asylum Demon, the area itself is a part of the boss fight, but with Gundyr it’s the opposite. Gundyr is supposed to feel like the end of the level, and you don’t learn enough about the general gameplay loop by the rime you get to him if you’re new to the franchise. I feel like that’s part of the reason so many people quit when they first fight Gundyr. To veterans he feels like a slight change of pace compared to previous games, but he’s parry bait with a small healthpool and well telegraphed attacks. However I feel like the biggest issue is that if we fought something like a Lothric Knight instead, he’d be able to do half of Gundyr’s Job. Any other enemy can teach us that the gameplay is faster now, and any other boss can show us that they have two phases. But with the Asylum Demon, his slow, towering, lumbering design is perfect for making you think that he’s more of a threat than he really is and sets your victory up perfectly. I feel like Gundyr is a good tutorial boss overall but isn’t on the level of Asylum Demon. Margit, however, I feel fails pretty badly. By the time a new player reaches him they would’ve likely died to both the Scion and Tree Sentinel, already learned that attacks are delayed, and possibly already learned about bosses having multiple phases. By the time you fight him you’ve likely heavily explored the area and have learned anything he could’ve taught you already. Margit functions as a skill check and not a tutorial boss. Not to mention that he can be cheesed using Margit’s shackle, that you can summon a phantom, and that you can use spirit summons. Margit teaches you absolutely nothing you wouldn’t have already learned. Even the regular soldiers you come across can delay their attacks, and there’s an evergaol right next to him with a Crucible Knight, which basically feel like delayed Lothric Knights and teach you anything that he can at a slower pace. Plus you can skip Margit entirely, and he’s completely disconnected from the level. Instead of him being the focus of the tutorial, and overcoming him being the main goal of the area, he’s simply a boss that guards the next area. Which isn’t a bad thing, it’s just a different design like with Gundyr. It isn’t bad design, but it doesn’t succeed at making a great tutorial boss the way the Demon does in my opinion. I feel like Elden Ring doesn’t really have a tutorial boss, because you learn anything you would need to before you even see Margit for the first time, and the Scion teaches you nothing because a new player’s going to get slaughtered by it if they’ve never played a souls game before and you only have one shot. Anyway that’s just my overly long winded opinion!
@@scalycoronet5198 I just wrote an incredibly long comment and accidentally deleted it, so I'm going to have to shorten this quite a bit. I agree Cemetery of Ash is kinda underwhelming, and Gundyr's buildup isn't very good. However, I love Gundyr as a boss (might just be my rose tinted glasses showing) so it always will be my favorite tutorial boss. Plus, it does set the standard of DS3 having great bosses and mediocre areas, good and bad. Margit is eh, though it does set the standard for exploration helping a lot, I don't have much to add. Now, Asylum Demon and the Asylum itself. The first "fight" with asylum demon has a message on the ground telling you to run, so I'd argue it doesn't force you to look around the arena as much as "messages give useful information", which is still true, but also repeated throughout the asylum with messages teaching you controls. The hallway is... fine, I really don't think it does all that much a lot of other areas in souls games and outside of souls games already teaches you. There are a lot of options, like running towards the archer inbetween shots, or blocking them, or if you have experience you could roll them, but pretty much any area with a ranged enemy has those options in any game. So while I think it works as a teaching tool, I don't think its anything particularly special that DS1 did. The environmental hazard is good and sets up future hazards. (Burg flaming barrel, the entirety of Sen's.) I'd argue the small group of enemies doesn't so much teach you about aggro and more teaches you how to deal with archers again but this time with enemies trying to attack you. A part I think is done good, although I don't think its anything impressive by tutorial standards, is the enemy before said locked door. It's the first armored sword hollow you're likely to encounter in the game, and it has a much more sophisticated moveset than the basic hollows. Although its pretty easy for most players, it might prove to be a challenge for those very new to gaming and helps build that curve a little higher for the asylum demon encounter. The plunging attack on Asylum is good, since its used throughout the early game. (Taurus, Capra, giant rat in the depths.) And even after you can find little places you can get plunging attacks off. (This is unrelated, but I find it kinda interesting that in DS3 there are a lot of areas through the game where getting a plunging attack is an option, even though it wasnt very emphasized in the tutorial.) I do agree that DS1 teaches you the cycle of the game... but I'd also agree DS3 and ER do that as well. DS3 doesn't teach you to explore a ton, though it does reward you with items, the path never strays too far, showing the linearity of the game. The cycle of the game being killing enemies and getting to the boss, well, that's kinda how DS3 is, it teaches you exactly how it will work. ER teaches you to explore a ton, look in every nook and cranny to find every last smidgen of gear to pick up, each thing possibly being the next step in defeating a boss you're stuck on or getting through a tough area. In this essence, Margit having a massive world you can explore before even facing him (you don't even have to face him, really) let's you learn naturally the mechanics of the game. The fact Margit can be skipped is part of what makes him a good teaching tool IMO. However, this is all to say... I think Dark Souls games actually have meh tutorials overall anyways. Of the games, would I say DS1's tutorial is one of the better, or best ones? Yes, but I don't think its a high standard to meet. DeS's starting area is... well I played through it and I'm still a little lost on what the hell was happening in it. When you die you go to the Nexus (its like DS3 Firelink if you haven't played) but it definitely felt like it eased pretty well, not as good as DS1, but better than DS2 and 3 at least. DS2's starting area is... convoluted and weird. DS3's starting area is barebones and clunky. Elden Ring's tutorial... well the real tutorial is very short and easy, like DS3's first area minus the somewhat difficult/interesting boss, although if we were to count Margit and all of Limgrave as a tutorial then I'd say its pretty good, although that's a pretty big stretch. DS1's tutorial? Its good, but I don't think its much past that. Not an incredible tutorial or a masterpiece of a tutorial, but it eases newer players into the game fairly well. TL;DR This entire comment was mostly pointless since I agreed with you in the end that its the best tutorial of the souls games, but I don't think its an incredible tutorial in terms of overall gaming.
@@scalycoronet5198 Elden Ring tutorial boss is the soldier in the cave :p
For New Londo, just draining the water is a *huge* check point. You can skip from the first area with ghosts down to like 2 rooms away from the boss, just go right instead of up the stairs
Wow. With your quality and editing I thought I watching someone with at least 1 million subs, I hope you get the attention you deserve. This video has kind of inspired me to try pick up ds1 again and try my own level one play through.
Thanks! I'm working on the sequel video right now.
The sheer relief and satisfaction when i finally overcame the soul of cinder on my sl1 run of ds3 was probably may favourite moment in any single player game and even more enjoyable than my first play through
I watched your previous 4 videos like 2-3 times, the amount of souls-vet knowledge and experience you have doing this is just simply amazing. Your videos are truly shining gem in the last dark ages of blindly praising the game by ,,fanboys". Big love and thumbs up!
I really try to praise the game when it deserves it and criticize the game when it is New Londo lol.
Pretty sure his knowledge isn't that great, if he keeps misnaming everything and getting really simple shit wrong.
@@SynysterProjects Relax buddy it aint that deep
@@SynysterProjects I don't really care if I pronounce 2 words wrong in an hour long video.
@@SynysterProjects You're hermione telling him how to pronounce leviosa right now... be better.
Great video!
Thanks!
Just wanted to congratulate you on how well your videos have done 👍
Thanks Tyler, you've given me a lot of support and I really appreciate it 👌
My 1st playthrough was with my brother who was experienced with souls games. I can guarantee I'd have never finished even half of the game without him. I got really good at parrying then when we got to Gwen my brother sat by me eager watching as I started messing up the mechanic I had mastered over the last few weeks lol
That’s a heartwarming story man, I’m sure both of you will remember those moments fondly
Well said! Thanks for laying out some compelling reasons to go try a SL1 run, I never quite understood it til now. Also 't-minus' does not mean what you think it means btw
You know I never thought to look up the definition of t minus. I just said it because it sounded cool and dramatic.
@@feebleking21 great way to get me to watch the whole video, now I must know how you said t minus wrong...
Great video mate! Deserves much more views :p
Awesome video Dude!
I’m actually doing one if these right now in a way with Sekiro. I have the demon bell equipped and wihout Kuros charm and I’m not upgrading skills either and so far I have beaten Owl and I’m hoping to beat every boss in the game doing this. It is very fun and it’s a good way to test your skill for people who have already beaten the game (I know I could also beat the game without upgrading my vitality and damage but the enemies already almost one shot me and some of the bosses take a few hundred hits to kill and I’m not patient enough to take another 10 minutes on a boss)
My first sl1 run is something I’ll never forget for how fun it was, and I’m never going to go through that again!
I have yet to do a sl1 playthrough, and I can tell this is how I'm going to feel.
@@jordangroblewsky2087 it’s fun except it’s painful, i went in kinda blind so I had to experiment a lot with some bosses which was cool
@@jordangroblewsky2087 As long as you use a fire and lightning reinforced club you'll do fine
Absolutely amazing videos please keep making them! I wanted to try a dark souls 1 sl1 but haven't got round to it yet lol just need fried for my ds3 one 😁
Damn man. First vid of yours I’ve found and it’s only 28 minutes in before I’m subbed. Can’t wait to see you come up, king
what a masterpiece of a video ! Thank you very much sir.
Glad you enjoyed it!
45:30 Why do you need to run through the rafters every time you attempt Gwyndolin? I dont remember needing to do that at all
Yeah you can totally just take the elevator
@@Edd6789 well you have to take an elevator either way but why would anyone go through the damn rafters to fight gwyndolin? Like this dude is telling me that he starts at the fire keeper and runs to the elevator, waits for it to come up, goes down, runs through the rafters, and takes the staircase down to the boss every single time? I just start at Gwynevere, go down and out the front gate, take the stairs down and boom. Like this dude is just torturing himself Edit: turns out gwyndolin tps you to the firekeeper when you die. I just died for the first time ever to gwyndolin because SL1 is super squishy. You can still tp to his fight, fortunately
@@ToastUrbath yeah also the fact that he didnt attack the ghosts in new londo for some reason
@@Edd6789 why would you attack the ghosts?
@@ToastUrbath why would you run through them and get killed for no reason lol. He complained about it being a stupid gamble to get through
Great content man, I would love to see one for dark souls 3 as well😁
Really nice video, you have solid points to your statements, kept my attention till the very end, good job mate!
I loved the video man but gotta disagree that the game is better in every way at SL1 as build diversity is dramatically hampered at SL1 but I do agree that the combat shines and really does give you that against all odds feeling again, but you lose some of that addicting character progression and replayability I find.
I play through DS2-SOFS fresh like once a year. I just play other games or focus on IRL stuff and then once I have some free time to play again I've forgotten all the secrets and niche mechanical stuff, plus my muscle memory is sorta shot. Gives me a fresh playthrough of my favorite game every once on awhile and remembering secrets without looking stuff up is super satisfying!
I like the passion you show in opening monologue, its amazing because what you say is what i and most people who played any souls type games experiences during first playthrough.
This is fantastic! Glad I found this
So I recently found this tactic for the Taurus demon, but the last time I played I just climbed up the ladder and let him follow me up which gave a ton of room for positioning.
Usually I just go up, jump down and stab, then circle around his legs until I can do it again.
I’m sure that works, but personally what I do for taurus demon is I start by hitting a plunging attack on him, and then I stand just out of his range to bait him into attacking, hit him once and repeat until it dies
Plunging attack is super fun to do as well.
@@grackleboi2523 feels very good
To make the gwyndolin run easier, use the Darkmoon Seance Ring from the catacombs to make the statue in Darkmoon sanctuary disappear without needing to break the illusion in Anor Londo. It's near the bottom inside a large coffin guarded by a giant skeleton.
What is the punishment for breaking the illusion? The only thing I've noticed about it so far is that there's no fire keeper in Anor Londo now but that's it
@@michaelhenderson1337 the enemy placement changes too and the fire keeper fights with you in the bridge
old comment, but just watched this vid and also thought his statement about the gwyndolin run-back was weird. I always use the bonfire right in front of the boss fog. But if that's not available in dark anor londo, which im not sure about, i would rather run from the princess bonfire and take the spinning staircase down. there are no more giants in dark anor londo so it's a pretty simple run.
@@spfy Dying in dark Anor Londo triggers an automatic teleport to the first Anor Londo bonfire. It's similar to the trigger used in Seath's first encounter arena.
@@spfyor yk just warp to that bonfire lol
You’ve motivated me to do an SL1 run for sure. I first played DS1 back in 2011 and I’ve always wanted to recapture that feeling. The game was so mysterious back then, it was discussed in very few places and we didn’t have a lot of experience with From games. I’ve started a few SL1 runs but never really committed to one, now I feel I have to, it seems fun.
The way you describe dark souls, despite me already playing through it multiple times, gives me newfound respect for the game in the small details that I never recognized
44:30 No reference to other areas in this, the first time seath kills you and go to those prisons which are kinda nice to explore. But also,. the thing that frustrated me for a long wasn't the duke archives, but the crystal caves outside. I know you can mark your path in various ways, but I'd still fall to my death in those invisible pathways. Some of them are straight run, others I am not confident to run blindly without making sure the next step close is not a fall. I hated this area before the boss for that, if you die you have to do it patiently all over again.
I always like to wait for Taurus to climb up the Tower too instead of plunging him. it feels honorable and cool in a way. Also there's way better space to fight up there.
u could plunge him then lure him back to the other side, bait an attack and then go back to the top and fight him up top or just repeat the process.
Great video you really brought me back to my first souls experience. Feeling lost and confused but also elated when things went right.
This inspired me to do a SL1 run, which I recently completed! I've started Dark Souls 2 at Level 1, it is a real struggle. From your DS2 critique I heard you also did a SL1 run for that too? In a nutshell or a single word, was it better?
24:22 You can actually roll out of your run if you hold the block button while running. There's still a small delay for you to put up your defense, but I'm pretty sure it's faster than waiting for your run animation to end
That would have been great to know! I'm upset, Smough and Ornstein would have been so much less frustrating. I guess the Dark Souls 1 jank has multiple levels to it.
@@feebleking21 Oh it’s definitely got layers to it, for sure lmao. And yeah knowing that definitely gets you out of tight spots!
DS1 back in the day taught me to always run with my shield up for this reason. A habit I had to unlearn partway through DS2 when I realized that it was no longer needed but I could use better stamina management. Ahh, I miss the early, tactical, patient era of souls games. Elden Ring is kinda fun but it will never measure up to DS 1&2 in my eyes.
@@feebleking21 If you play Dark Souls Remastered you can bind left stick to jump. It's very useful
I remember the first time I played through Blight town...... I didn't realize there was an alternative, easier, path through the swamp..... So I walked all back up the way down. I did kill Kellogg's on my 2nd attempt though. I love DS1, it's the best "Souls" game, tied equally with Bloodborne imo
this is probably one of my all time favorite dark souls videos from one of my all time favorite souls KZhead channels
Just finished my first SL1 all bosses and dlc bosses. I have to say, I enjoyed this SL1 run over any SL 125 Min Maxed build planned before I even start up my PC. SL1 was super fun
45:47 You fool! That's exactly what he wants!
Such a bad boss run that he got exactly what he wanted, which is the D lol.
fear was not what my first dark soul playthrough was all about. It was the discovery, the feeling of getting lost in corridors. The game was straigh forward and yet overwhelming. I got lost many time even if the path seemed clear. I wasn't fearful I was amazed by the immensity of this game, and yet when I finished it, I could run it through in few hours only. There as been litteral moment where I wondered "how the fuck am I suppose to go further, there is no way before me, like when I discovered new londo, and I witness ennemies that could not be hit, or when I was before the gates of the sen forteress, , a dragon blocking me the path for bladetown, an hydra blocking me the path for the mareist, and this gigantic gate blocking my way until I find where was the second bell located. I knew I could desesperally try the catacomb, but it seems like darkness was literally preventing me to go further, then I discovered a tiny valley full of little drakes, that seemed to be the safest path. and totally discovered the end of bladetown that the npc from firelink was talking about. I knew there were dangers lying ahead, and this poisonous deeps seemed to be the only way I had. To totally fiscover later that I managed to start this level by what should have been the end x). this moment in anor londo where I wondered "do I have to climb the fucking cathedral by the arch that are supporting it? no wayyyy this is genius level design, to then touch a peinting and get myself stuck in it until I manage to avoid being poison back to the start by one single ennemy. It wasn't fearful, it was challenging in a good way. Not to hard, just what it needed to to bring me a superb feeling to have overcome not only by skill, but also outsmarting the level design, become prepare to every trap set on the road. and searching my way through the level design. Dark soul isn't just a pure skilled base game. It's a journey, a real hero journey, where you start as the little bitch of every hollow you encounter, you're a plated armor knight that get his ass beat by naked zombies, that learn to beat the zombies only to discover that now that he is capable of overcoming physically every ennemies even if it sometimes take multiple tries, still is lost in a world he as to explore. The lore of the game become your map, every drop of information you gain, is more valueable than any weapon or treasur find on the way. You hear about heroes of the past, like arthorias , AND OH MY GOOD THIS DUDE IS TOTALLY A BOSS, AND HE'S EARN HIS FUCKING LEGENDS AN MYTH SURROUDIG HIM ! This feeling is to this day, unmatch by any other game even in the souls game. Dark soul 1 was a fucking masterpiece, and 3000 hours in the game, I can't stop trying to milk this feeling a bit longer, just a glims of it satysfies me. Just a little bit more. What would become of me when this feeling would be no more? I can't tell for sure. maybe I'll turn hollow.
2:18 really amazing writing in the review! concise and to the point.
I was i droduced to dark souls 1 by my older brother. For most parts I wanted to have clear, begginer experience, but in some places (like in sen's fortress, where he showed me hidden bonfire) I was very glad he could help me out
17:30 I agree with this too, as long as the play through is mostly blind, I don’t think it makes a play through any worse 24:23 Ahhhh why are you not on remastered 28:46 Making discharge fall if the map is actually intended btw 36:28 Sif is actually a female 1:01:33 my wall as Soul of Cinder at level 1, I tried all weekend and still could end do it. And I probably never will, but that’s okay because I had fun getting there.
I'm not on remastered because I refused to buy it when I heard that they didn't rework lost Izalith, despite how unfinished it is. I felt like I couldn't properly rank Ceaseless Discharge if I used the fall to kill him, so whether intended or not I need to see how the fight mechanics were to rank him properly (Into the delete tier lol). Level 1 soul of cinder was the hardest boss in the base game for me, definitely a hard fight. From what I remember, the best strat for soul of cinder is to not engage when he is dual wielding swords since that is his best weapon moveset. Later I will make a "Dark Souls 3 Critique, but I'm Level 1" and I will refight lvl 1 cinder and talk more about how to beat him.
@@feebleking21 I get that part about lost izalith, but I also get why they didn’t change it, they want to keep it as it is or else many people would have gotten mad probably. It would have been cool if they brought in cut content into the game
@@tylerherdman1755 I guess I found it weird for Fromsoft to remaster an unfinished game, but the people who remastered it weren't the original developers so I guess they were afraid of making people upset. I guess I want a Dark Souls 1 remake because that could be my favorite game ever if New Londo and Lost Izalith were changed. At least add a new Londo bonefire.
@@feebleking21 I get your reasoning but only fromsoft can rework izalith and this remaster is not made by them
I dont think Sif was confirmed as female ? Not sure
17:45 this is probably the stockholm syndrome talking, but looking back, going through the fortress every time was kinda fun. I got to the point where I was able to do the run mindlessly until I woke up 5 minutes later at the fog gate.
I remember in my first playthrough I took the master key and ended up taking the shortcut into blighttown only to make my up to the depths entrance thinking it was the way to go and then having to fight my way back down
Cool run bro
30:09 - Centipede Demon can be fought "properly" if you start jumping across the lava gaps and get into the actual arena where all the floor ISN'T lava. Then you just gotta watch out for either: 1. Jump attacks 2. Cutting the centipede off and it becoming another enemy you can fight.
Manus really did get a lot better on an SL1 run. Artorias used to be my favorite boss in this game, but now Manus is. He's the epitome of "hard, but fair" in this game and maybe even the whole series. He's a cakewalk when mastered, sure, but the process of mastering his patterns is so much more fun with him than most other bosses in this game.
Damn I struggled hard with Manus :( I traded him to death with a Zweihander and Poise, couldn’t imagine avoiding his onslaughts every time
great video. I just recently downloaded dark souls and played through it over the course of about 1.5 weeks. it's been such an amazing time and I want to go back in again right away. maybe even at level 1. edit: I've played through the game atleast 5 times now and did that sl1 run. it was amazing, highly recommended if you want to test your knowledge and skill.
15:49 this actually explains the series so well, I played one and now I replay them multiple times a year
Kinda sad how Bell Gargoyles and O&S are still the best dual boss fights in the entire Soulsborne genre. All this time and they still haven't been able to top either of them.
Those are really great fights, but I also liked phase 2 friede and demon in pain/demon below. O&S have bugs in prepare to die, but maybe they were patched out in the remaster?
@@feebleking21 I fought them in remaster because that’s how I got into the game, and I never saw any of those junkie bugs, so they probably were patched.
I think Demon Prince tops O&S to me and is the best dual boss fight in the series. The way they trade aggression and passiveness through visual ques and how one will be using ranged attacks while the other melee, plus depending on the one you kill last you will get a different boss with a new move set. It’s perfection imo
@@187Wretched Visual _and_ audio queue, not one or the other. Which is good, because you are looking at the other demon.
Gargoyles in DS are better than DkS
I find if funny that you criticize DS2 for being easier to play without lock on because the game "teaches you to play locked on" but then say Queelag is meant to be fought without a lock on like it's a good thing, when DS1 also never "teaches" you to fight without a lock on, you need to be more consistent on your reviews.
Quelaag is just one boss. The entirety of dark souls 2 is flawed
Dark souls 2 is shit. It's a shit game not worth money. The bosses, the level design, enemy design, movement, healing, graphics, all shit tier I'd rather play wii sports than install dark souls 2 again. And I got all achievements in DS2 just to try and have a qualified opinion
To be fair Quellag is a single bossfight, while DS2 is an entire game. The vast majority of bosses in DS2 are easier to fight unlocked, while DS1 only has one boss that is objectively better to fight unlocked.
I’m currently doing my first SL1 run in ds1 and I just beat O&S. Thank you for putting my exact thoughts into a video. I already loved this game but a SL1 run changes everything.
Great video but I’ve gotta ask… Is there not a bonfire next to Gwyndolin in the Prepare To Die edition? I played remastered and there was a bonfire there called Darkmoon Sanctuary or something like that. I never had a problem with his boss run because of it.
It wasn’t a level 1 run, you chose a class, you started at a level that isn’t 1
26:57 Finally, another people who can see the flawed design of O&S. Funny enough, most of people who can see the flawed design of this fight are those people who have tried SL1 run. The worst part for me was the trade hit when ornstein was at smough's back and then ornstein hit you through smough's body while you can't see him. I can deal with this boss fight without sweating right now, but still... At first, it's annoying. S tier boss fight my ass.
they really aren't flawed much and are very consistent from casual runs to sl1 to sl1 no roll to sl1 no sprint. yea ornsteins gap closing jank charge is jank as can be (but you should never be that far from Ornstein anyway so you shouldn't have to deal with it much), and yea Orn can hit through Smough. The way their attacks, speed and AIs compliment eachother is so well done, and still remains one of fromsofts greatest gank bosses, possibly still the best. Having the pillars to break up aggro is also very important as well and they work perfectly for that.
when i first played through ds1 i had my friend, a ds veteren in discord with me throughout the entire journey, and it was an unforgettable experience, letting me explore by myself but giving a helping hand sometimes when its needed, was great.
Even though I do not agree with most of your thoughts about Elden Ring (especially regarding the bosses), I have to say your videos are good stuff dude. I might as well sub
Fun video, but you have horrible takes on almost everything
Recently played demon souls and dark souls 1 for the first time, what a blast! Can't believe I've missed out on the souls games for so long. About to finish ng+ and I can't believe how much there is I've yet to discover about the world. That cage shortcut in sen's fortress I would have never found. First time through I missed that bonfire, it is such a dangerous area and I was in such a hurry I never explored it well enough.
You are very good at expressing your thoughts and emotions, good video
I feel like this is how I must sound when talking about how I feel or think about Dark Souls. You either get it or you don’t and that’s kinda the beauty in this series. You can make these games as hard or “easy” as you want. All it takes is the proper knowledge of where to go, what to do, and having the practice to execute it all. In a normal play through, you can supplement skill with power leveling or summons but in a run where you kinda have to git a little gud you don’t have all those options. You have to overcome the obstacle with what few things you can and you have to learn, memorize, and stay calm enough to not to lose your cool at the last minute. Through playing these games, you become a part of it. Nothing beats the feeling of that “click” in your mind when all the pieces of the world line up. Once that happens, the games are never quite the same again, and neither are you. Kinda rambling when I should be asleep but maybe somebody else thinks or feels the same way.
Deep stuff man
Sanest Dark Souls fan
I havent seen the vid yet, but i do want to mention some cool things about non leveling classes, instead of SL1. the classes are pretty diverse. amounting to spells options being, gravelord swords dances, force, soul arrows, chamelon+ultility sorceries, and all pyromancies. as a sorcerer with 3 slots + white ring+ dusk ring, makes 6 effective slots as a pyro sorcerer. and more weapons pyromancer cant use being, drake sword (never used to use but pretty cool for no level or upgrading), flamberge, furysword, chaos blade, warpick, claws (dual),butterfly horn, titanite catchpole, lifehunt scythe (very fun), guardian tail, avelyn, crystal ring shield, pierce, spiked, santus shield. a lot of these are very strong for no upgrading aswell. and tons of cool armor, if you fine with mid or heavy rolling most of the time
Well, time to do my 29th playthrough lol. Cool video
great content man. my first playthrough was like nothing i've ever experienced before playing games. the challenge was so brutal that i died 99% of the time before reaching Asylum demon's fog gate. then i seeked guidance and found FightinCowboy's 100% walkthrough and things started to get better, i hit my first wall in Anor Londo. no humanities to summon SunBro, i died 30 times to O'S most of them out of fear of facing them, almost rage quit, came back to the burg, bought one humanity, summoned Solaire, got to phase 2, got greedy and died. frustration grew bigger, got my MSGS to +10 and decided it was time to git gud and finally iced them. i was celebrating like if my fav football team has just won the champions league.
A masterpiece!
ds1 is my favorite ds and i was never been able to say y with ur video i know understand i think this game feels like a og resident evil (my fav games) lost in a huge place where u can go anywhere, no tp, and the feeling of discovery everytime reinforced by the no tp, its cool to go down kill qeelag but can u go up ? and damn when ur lost and finaly find a bonefire, this feeling man, just like finding a safe room in re later souls game r realy good but they never gave me the same feeling thx for that video man , i might try a sl1 to feel like the good ol times
"from software does what nintendon´t" . You sir, have earned my subscription. love the video keep it up!
I absolutely beat Iron Golem without a checkpoint. I never looked up a guide (this is actually the first I heard that there were checkpoints in Sen's Fortress) and had just assumed that there werent any.
I didn't know some people could read gameplay like I read plot. You notice things! Keep it up! ❤
When I was in high school I played a ton of PTDE on the 360 and I watched a lot of speedruns and challenge runs so I eventually did an SL1 run. Got to gargoyles, felt pure joy when I beat them, put the game down for the night, and forgot about the run for a few months. Came back, got to O&S, felt the best I ever had once I beat them, put the game down again. I played some other game the next day and my 360 red ringed and I couldn't play my SL1 run anymore. I eventually got a computer and bought PTDE on steam but never wanted to relive the hell that was SL1 over again, and ended up content with how far I got but felt bad I never finished the run. Watching this makes me feel like it wasn't that bad I never finished, as I got exactly to the last great point of the game and will never see the darkness that is the 2nd half of DS1 on SL1
Dark Souls 1 has the best formula for the souls-like genre (at least up to getting the Lordvessel). Anytime you get stuck in an encounter, all you gotta do is leave and explore, you will find the right tool you need to get past whatever challange that keeps you from moving foward. Capra Demon is no exception, once you get killed a few times you will notice that youre getting staggered constantly by the fast attacking dogs, all you gotta do is get to darkroot garden and get the elite knight set, with it equiped you can poise-tank their attacks and quickly dispatch the dogs to face capra 1 on 1. The same thing with the Anor Londo archers, after dying a couple of times and going out to explore, you will find a conveniently placed greatshield (Black Iron Greatshield) to block the great arrows so you can get past them.
you know I realized I haven't actually done a run like this in many years where I didn't use the master key / didn't upgrade my weapons a lot for undead burg. I might try it again sometime. Seems like lots of people are getting slightly burned out on Elden Ring and going back to DS!
Currently doing my first SL1 run and it feels like my first playthrough all over again
You don't need to use the elevator in New Londo. Just walk off the edge near the first 2 ghosts after u open the seal.
how do you play on such low brightness? i feel like i can’t see the video
Really great video. As a Bloodborne fan i have to ask... do you think this is true even in Bloodborne? Do you think it is doable having fun and not cursing your own existance? I'm genuenly asking because i feel like Bloodborne gives you really little fight alternatives in comparison to other souls. What i mean is that armor is kinda useless, there are in general fewer items than other souls and you can kinda fight in only one way which is dodge and hit (which is my favourite way so i'm cool with that but it kinda reduces your options when you are doing an extreme run like that and you need every possible strategy you can use) plus in general bosses do really high damage and i don't know how anyone can endure without AT LEAST 30 vitality (even 40 or 50 would be better). I fear that you should do all no hits or you'll get one shoted.