@Evil_Saluki: Dragon's Dogma has fun combat but it's very rinse and repeat in it's design. Again, all those things are linked to your skill set. If I find a bigger, better sword, I have the same options I did with my previous sword. Plus there's little variety in enemy design, so almost all encounters play out the same way regardless if you're fighting a different monster.

The Souls games reward experimentation with your weapon set and tactics vary wildly depending on what weapon you're using. Use a sickle to move around shields, bash someone with a greatshield, use a finely crafted rapier to rip through armor, and so on. Hell, I'm using a Captain Hook claw just because people don't know how to react.

Of course if you find the combat slow that's cool too. I'm not going to try and convince you you're wrong for not enjoying the game. I'm just saying the weapon variety is unmatched, and as someone who sank over 80 hours and loved every minute of it yes, that includes Dragon's Dogma.

I can't think of a single RPG with real time combat that has anywhere close to the variety the Souls games have. Sure, turn based games ranging from Final Fantasy to Dragon Age have a large variety of stuff you can do, but half the time new skills exist to straight up replace an old one and total variety goes out the window.

What are we comparing the Souls games to? The Elder Scrolls? Where every weapon swings and hits the exact same way? Dragon's Dogma gave your character a move set but it was limited to those skills, not the weapons you come across.

The Souls games are about as varied and customizable as you can get. Not only does every weapon have several attacks - light, strong, jumping, strike after roll, strike after back stepping, and all those in a different form when two handing a weapon (and now dual wielding), but every weapon also has it's own unique move set. Plus, you have three options to critical an enemy now.

I have something like 40 weapons to choose from and I'm all giddy with the possibilities I wish I got in other RPGs.

First - What a bizarre rumor with no link. Ok.

Second - If true, yeah, it'd be a pretty big deal and a good get for the Xbox brand

Third - Personally I wouldn't care. How many times has Capcom made an exclusive only for it to later go multiplat? Like Code Veronica, 4, and Revelations. They were all exclusive at one point.

I think I had about that amount when I started using the Life Ring all the time. It isn't that I don't have plenty, it's that I didn't want to manage them.

Cuz right now I love running into the Bell towers and summoning people to have massive PvP battles and screw burning all my effigies to do so :P

Whoa hey whoa, it isn't cheating :P

It's just really cheap. I don't really wear it to save the souls, I wear it so I don't lose humanity because effigy is rare as hell and I love the co op aspect too much to use an effigy smartly.

But yeah, that Pharros stone is pointless. Lighting the windmill on fire is what clears the poison. No idea why, but that's what happens.

I finished the game today. The last few stages were absolutely incredible. In typical Souls fashion the last boss was a complete pushover but it still looked cool. I'm not 100% sure what happened story wise yet but it's going to be fun jumping into the lore and figuring out exactly what happened.

Maybe I'll stop wearing the Ring of Life Protection for my second playthrough. For those that don't know, if you're wearing it you lose nothing upon death. You remain in human form and keep all your souls. The other games had rings like this too, but the difference here being that you can just repair that thing for a measly 3000 souls.

@cooolio: I was going to say, just get rid of the poison and that fight is easy.

It is incredibly bizarre though, how you remove the poison from that area. That's my favorite place to lay down my summon sign. Showing people how to disable the poison gets some pretty humorous reactions.

Here I'll answer these questions for you:

While the consensus is that enemy respawn limits have been put into place due to eliminate high level grinding, that doesn't really seem to be the case. There are items you have that allow you to respawn enemies, a Covenant straight off that turns on "hard mode" allowing you to grind more souls, and items themselves are easier to obtain. For example, in DS1 you had to create a +10 weapon and then use a boss soul to make a super weapon, but in this game you just meet someone that trades souls for the equipment.

It seems more that it exists to ease off tension for less skilled players. If you're having a hell of a time with a particular boss, eventually getting to him will be easier which means less wasted time and more items at your disposable to take him down.

It lasts pretty much forever until you either join the right covenant or burn a bonfire ascetic.

I put the game on "Hard" mode today. It's like a whole new game :D

@c_rakestraw: I've killed all four now and yeah, that one remains the only one that's easy. The other three are challenging. Interesting thing about these bosses is that they're tough to get to, for the most part.