Hardcore Mode for the Souls Series..?

Would the Souls Series benefit from a Hardcore Mode..?

Much like Diablo 2's Hardcore Mode, where if your character dies they are permanently dead!
Pretty sure those Hardcore Characters started out stronger or something
to compensate for the no dying rule.

Or like Fallout New Vegas Hardcore mode where you have to eat, drink, and sleep.

The game would end at Seath.

Tolvo wrote:The game would end at Seath.

Lol would have to use that tricky little shortcut to skip seath!

I would enjoy a hardcore mode. I've done starting level runs, no shield/heal runs and now a no bonfire run and I love the extra difficulty!

Ah yeah Seath...
That could be the only exception..?

Man so many people would just trash their computers right there & then on Hardcore.
xD

Try a no leveling run with a class that has no attunement slots. Pure melee.

I recently started one, warrior class; I died to S&O about 40 times, lol.

....you can create a million different ways to go 'hardcore'.

Rings of Sacrifice would be considered a safety net from death, and so required for seath.

lextune wrote:Try a no leveling run with a class that has no attunement slots. Pure melee.

I recently started one, warrior class; I died to S&O about 40 times, lol.

....you can create a million different ways to go 'hardcore'.

Yeah my starting level was a warrior. I almost gave up at O&S, like literally almost took the game from my system and lock it away never to be seen again. Ever!

I think this was brought up in an interview or q&a prior to dark souls, but they wouldn't make different difficulty settng, since it would affect the co-op system as well.
What they could do is make a hardcore mode for game mechanics that only affects the player. Like enabling the curse stacking effect, no absolution option, no mid level bonfires, etc. In general just make the game even more punishing.

lextune wrote:Try a no leveling run with a class that has no attunement slots. Pure melee.

I recently started one, warrior class; I died to S&O about 40 times, lol.

....you can create a million different ways to go 'hardcore'.

I have never in all my hours on Dark Souls used magic.. Not once!

I've collected them for the trophies but other then that I don't get them.
I've always had a Pure Melee Class, some turtle others rush and a couple bait the other players.

Never seen the fascination with magic, leaves people too open.

@ublug

I think what you're talking about, if I remember correctly, is a comment Miyazaki made about Demon's Souls. He originally wanted to make your game save delete itself when you died, so you have to start over every time you die! But he decided against it...

A "no death mode" isn't a bad idea... But isn't really necessary--you can do it yourself. Just delete the save file when you die and start over!

I don't know if this has been suggested before, but: another way to make a hardcore mode could be to get rid of all your gear at the start of NG+ and start it fresh, like it was NG. Maybe even do a low-level NG run to start NG+ low level. With a low starting level and no gear, NG+ would be a decent challenge, and a lot of fun!

As some are suggesting, dark souls has a hardcore mode. Its called not lvling up. Personally i dont think that a no death mode would work with the souls games, cause they are built around the idea of learning from your deaths. It would be interesting if after beating ng+++ or something you unlocked a "one life" mode, but it would be a lot harder then you think.

I actually quit playing the game for a few months after getting reamed by O&S for an entire day. I only beat Demon Souls once, and only because an invader gifted me an end game weapon pretty much out of the gate. So coming to Dark Souls I didn't quite have a handle on the smithing system yet, and I was basically baffled by stats. Finally beat the game at lvl 130ish (I know, dudes), fat rolling with like 20 vit and maybe 25 end. Ridiculous.

Wouldn't the seventh playthrough be hardcore mode? Thats where the game is at its hardest

swordiris wrote:Wouldn't the seventh playthrough be hardcore mode? Thats where the game is at its hardest

Except it's also where you're at your strongest since unless you specifically limit yourself, you will be very high level with maxed out gear and the ability to use weapon buffs.



Personally I'd be happy with a Gravelord mode where you can play through the game offline with Black Phantoms everywhere. I do like the idea of a NG+ playthrough where you start with nothing. That actually is a great idea for a challenge playthrough. Make it through the game with a starting level character without getting the bottomless box, upgrading estus or kindling bonfires. Defeat Gwyn and drop all of your gear except for the unupgraded items that you started the game with(you'd have to keep them on your person). Now you start NG+ just as you would if it was NG. Play through game without leveling up, I don't think any other limitations are even needed since it will be so difficult.



I'm really going to have to think about this idea...

Actually you pick up all your stuff in the asylum at the beginning of NG+ so you'd have to drop everything.

Isirith wrote:Would the Souls Series benefit from a Hardcore Mode..?

Much like Diablo 2's Hardcore Mode, where if your character dies they are permanently dead!
Pretty sure those Hardcore Characters started out stronger or something
to compensate for the no dying rule.

isint dark souls hardcore enough... JESUS PEOPLE! i thought that was the point! HARDCORENESS.... heh heh....

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[/quote]isint dark souls hardcore enough... JESUS PEOPLE! i thought that was the point! HARDCORENESS.... heh heh....[/quote]

I'm with you on this one mate. I think these people must live in caves and wear barbed wire underpants.

Most of the old school people will probably enjoy Dark Souls for different reasons than others. Speaking as one of them, I love the challenge and the ability to make it even harder to test my limits. Some people love playing through games so they feel like gods at the end and are basically untouchable, which in this game essentially means placing no limits on yourself and just using the best gear and maxing out important stats.


Personally I find that rather boring and is why I got turned off from Skyrim very quickly. It's fun to become powerful and feel like you're progressing, but when you can just run through the game without feeling any danger then it becomes stale. I guess in essence I don't play games to "relax". To me games like this are an escape from reality, a challenge to overcome, and the ultimate goal is to be immersed. When it's too easy and I can eat dinner and talk on the phone while clearing a dungeon then I'm not immersed. Dark Souls requires your full attention at all times and for me that becomes far more immersive


A lot of people watch my playthroughs and ask how I was able to get so skilled in the game, and it's basically because I forced myself to play with extreme limitations. Had I just kept on leveling, using the best gear, kindling all my bonfires, etc... then I'd have never reached that level. If you play the game enough then eventually the PVE portion isn't as fun when you are at your full potential. For some people adding limits completely rejuvenates the game for them.

Dark Souls is more punishing then it is hard.,

with a lot of patience & when always playing safe it really isn't that difficult at all ,

it just took a lot of time starting out , learning the mechanics , rules and attack patterns.

Dark Souls PvE is more like chess or a ''turn-based game'',

It was all about playing reactivly instead of agressive , and some parts still are.

That said , I'd love to have a difficulty option or a Black Phantom mode.

For those who want to try something really difficult ,

try VANQUISH's Tactical Challenges & God Hard Mode ., Ive never did anything harder then that I my entire life , not even outside of gaming lol.:cyclops:

I think the challenge is up to you and as Vageta said you can push your limits as much as you can or want.
The game is already hardcore as others have stated, but I think the line between difficulty and frustration in this game is really thin.
A no death run??? Hardly to think about it when most of our deaths nowadays is from falling of a cliff or something like that while taking shortcuts for example, plain silly mistakes imo.
I've been gravelorded several times with BP appearing in my world (last time was Anor Londo) and I do think that BP added to the actual mobs could really increase the difficulty and still keep being fun rather than frustrating.

^That would just make the Anor Londo painting cathedral rafters that much more stressful! Although, you could safely cheese the guardians off the rafters first, and breeze by. The Crystal Caves could be annoying, though--sometimes those golems push you off, nothing you could do about it. All in all, though, I think a no-death mode would be very feasible. And I think there should be a trophy for it!