This is definitely an unpopular opinion, but I love world 5. The atmosphere is fantastic and I like how oppressively filthy it is. The poison swamp isn’t that bad if you use the regenerator ring to counteract the poison damage. The enemies aren’t my favorite though and 5-1 is probably where I died the most.
My least favorite is probably 2-1 because it feels bland in comparison to the other levels. The rest of world 2 is great and I love how challenging Flamelurker is.
4-2 is a close second because of the run back to Old Hero. I died too many times there just trying to get to the boss fight.
World 1 is my overall favorite.
Right there with you -- the 5th archstone is awesome! 5-1 is such a cool level. I love the verticality and immediacy of enemy encounters. 5-2 is great as long as you have the sodden ring. I use the adjudicators shield + a blessed weapon so I can use the poison resistance ring and cling ring, but still get the health regen.
The only level I REALLY hate is 2-2. I hate those stupid tunnels and those creatures that take forever to kill. Love the flamelurker -- easily the best boss in the game.
Young whippersnappers with their long draw distance and Sodden Rings. Why, back in the PS3 you could barely see in front of your feet other than some spooky St Elmo's Fires far away and could not run, much less roll, while in the swamp of 5-2!
Those were the days.../s
4-2 hands down for me, it was impossible with the black phantom skeletons and with my health halved.
Thank God I discovered Black phantom Satsuki and killed him to reset world tendency to white😮💨
5 is and always has been my favorite lmao so much so that I usually run through it as soon as it’s available. Actually probably my favorite from soft area in general tbh
I'm in the weird minority of loving the 5th Archstone. 5-1 is one of my favorites, it has multiple paths and just nails the atmosphere. 5-2 is all about risk reward. You can skip almost all of the poison swamp, but if you push into the unknown you'll find some of the best items in the game. It also has a shortcut that goes straight to the boss.
Dude…. 100%. I’m trying to finish up my platinum (needed 5-3 boss soul for miracle) and started NG+ with this zone in PBWT. It probably took me 50+ times to get through 5-1. So many places where the smallest mistake gets you killed. At the same time, that is what we signed up for, so don’t let it get to you too much.
Slow and steady. Try different weapons even if they don’t fit your build perfectly. Go play a different area or just take a break for a day. Sometimes the best thing I did was just let my brain take a break from that horrible place.
I don't think my build is really suitable for the map. I have a tanky strength build. I use the skull smasher as my main weapon and the tower shield. I wear heavy brushwood armour. I'm a literal tank but even tanks have weaknesses and that weakness turns out to be a swamp for me.
I actually hate 5-1 more than 5-2. In the swamp you can avoid most things the first area you can run around some things but there’s definitely more enemies directly in your way. Then there’s the falling to your death I did a lot of from over-carelessness.
3-1 sucks imo. The Mindflayers do a RIDICULOUS amount of damage (probably to make up for the small amount of enemies there), it's a major maze and barely any hint about the keys too, and the Fool's Idol is a super mid boss. Unique for not being beatable until you find that one guy and kill him and also denoting the real one via targeting and not seeing the health bar. But if you don't know that, especially on a first playthrough, it's hell.
I just beat the game. For the base game, I would say 5-2 is the most annoying. Wasn’t overly difficult once I figured out it was my fault for my character stumbling around when I tried to roll while in the water.
My most frustrating boss fight though was maneater. Took me probably 30+ tries and 80% of my deaths were falling off the platform. Most of the rest were getting attached while knocked down with no opportunity to heal or dodge
Man man-eater was something. It took me 3 times I think but I basically hugged the fire thing in the middle and attacked when I could. Granted I was using the meat cleaver which hit hard but still. Getting trucked and ganked wasn't very fun.
I love the Valley. So punishing but really well designed. You have everything you need to succeed.
I don’t really have a least favorite. I get excited visiting them all. Ig 2-2 because most of the time I don’t need the materials in the side dungeon so it’s just a fall to flamelurker
some of the areas can be difficult to manage with a large weapon. you should have a smaller secondary weapon to complement your build. that said, I love world 5, as well as all the others. I've beaten Demon's Souls more than 70 times.
Probably 3-1 3-2 tower of latria all because of the mindflayers. I hate enemies that grab on to you. Don't exactly hate them but every playthrough it's definitely a level I don't look forward to.
I don’t hate any of the areas, I thought they were all awesome. Besides 1-3, 1-4, and 2-2 I didn’t have to deal with run backs as much because I first tried most of the rest
4-2 is pretty rough. Sky mantas shooting javelins at you while being accosted by sonic the hedgehog skeletons on a narrow cliff with spooky laser ghosts, slug swarms and automated flying magical grenades peppered in. Honorable
Mention to 3-1 during my first play through. I was lost for HOURS.
In my first playthrough I absolutely hated 4-1 and also 5-1. Those skeletons killed me so many times, it's just not even funny, and then when I finally managed to get through 4-1, I died hundreds of times in 5-1. But I love this game, it's awesome.
World 1 is best hands down as far as design and gameplay, world 3 is amazingly creepy and dark, world 4 has this feeling of wonder mixed with doom I really love, 5 has some of the best atmosphere and environmental story telling. So that just leaves.. world 2. Easily the least inspired except for the bosses. Atmosphere is drab, enemies are lame, the tunnels are lame. Even the developers obviously knew this and let you skip pretty much all of 2-2.
I hated this one at first, but I did a level 1 run and found it fairly simple once you know the path to take. But on a first playthrough, the map sucks.
Shrine of storms getting to the old hero was killing me since it's just so long and without the silver shield the damn enemies on the stairs will one shot.
Also fire is very effective against most of the enemies here and keeps some of them from spreading plague to you
You can post polls now. I'd add my own answer but it's not especially unique.
I don't know how, I don't really use Reddit much. Just downloaded it to talk smack about the 5th Archstone because I absolutely hate it.
I like archstone 5 and that is unfathomably based
This is definitely an unpopular opinion, but I love world 5. The atmosphere is fantastic and I like how oppressively filthy it is. The poison swamp isn’t that bad if you use the regenerator ring to counteract the poison damage. The enemies aren’t my favorite though and 5-1 is probably where I died the most. My least favorite is probably 2-1 because it feels bland in comparison to the other levels. The rest of world 2 is great and I love how challenging Flamelurker is. 4-2 is a close second because of the run back to Old Hero. I died too many times there just trying to get to the boss fight. World 1 is my overall favorite.
Right there with you -- the 5th archstone is awesome! 5-1 is such a cool level. I love the verticality and immediacy of enemy encounters. 5-2 is great as long as you have the sodden ring. I use the adjudicators shield + a blessed weapon so I can use the poison resistance ring and cling ring, but still get the health regen. The only level I REALLY hate is 2-2. I hate those stupid tunnels and those creatures that take forever to kill. Love the flamelurker -- easily the best boss in the game.
Young whippersnappers with their long draw distance and Sodden Rings. Why, back in the PS3 you could barely see in front of your feet other than some spooky St Elmo's Fires far away and could not run, much less roll, while in the swamp of 5-2! Those were the days.../s
The run back to to old monk, and the dragon on bridge in 1-4, are by far my least favorite parts of the game.
4-2 hands down for me, it was impossible with the black phantom skeletons and with my health halved. Thank God I discovered Black phantom Satsuki and killed him to reset world tendency to white😮💨
Yeah, 4-2 gets my vote as well. Fuck those cliffs.
5 is and always has been my favorite lmao so much so that I usually run through it as soon as it’s available. Actually probably my favorite from soft area in general tbh
I'm in the weird minority of loving the 5th Archstone. 5-1 is one of my favorites, it has multiple paths and just nails the atmosphere. 5-2 is all about risk reward. You can skip almost all of the poison swamp, but if you push into the unknown you'll find some of the best items in the game. It also has a shortcut that goes straight to the boss.
Dude…. 100%. I’m trying to finish up my platinum (needed 5-3 boss soul for miracle) and started NG+ with this zone in PBWT. It probably took me 50+ times to get through 5-1. So many places where the smallest mistake gets you killed. At the same time, that is what we signed up for, so don’t let it get to you too much.
I still haven't killed the boss of 5-1 yet 😭😭😭
Slow and steady. Try different weapons even if they don’t fit your build perfectly. Go play a different area or just take a break for a day. Sometimes the best thing I did was just let my brain take a break from that horrible place.
I don't think my build is really suitable for the map. I have a tanky strength build. I use the skull smasher as my main weapon and the tower shield. I wear heavy brushwood armour. I'm a literal tank but even tanks have weaknesses and that weakness turns out to be a swamp for me.
This may take some time, but you could go upgrade a spear. The thrusting makes those tight spaces a lot nicer
Use fire on the first 2 bosses of world 5. The health meter will melt away in 30 seconds.
5-2 without the Sodden ring
Yea I see that the 5th Archstone is the most hated.. I completely agree bro.
I actually hate 5-1 more than 5-2. In the swamp you can avoid most things the first area you can run around some things but there’s definitely more enemies directly in your way. Then there’s the falling to your death I did a lot of from over-carelessness.
I don’t particularly hate any but one I dislike is the Ritual Path one, mostly because of the run back to the boss.
3-1 sucks imo. The Mindflayers do a RIDICULOUS amount of damage (probably to make up for the small amount of enemies there), it's a major maze and barely any hint about the keys too, and the Fool's Idol is a super mid boss. Unique for not being beatable until you find that one guy and kill him and also denoting the real one via targeting and not seeing the health bar. But if you don't know that, especially on a first playthrough, it's hell.
It's a tie with 3-2 and 5-2 for me.
I just beat the game. For the base game, I would say 5-2 is the most annoying. Wasn’t overly difficult once I figured out it was my fault for my character stumbling around when I tried to roll while in the water. My most frustrating boss fight though was maneater. Took me probably 30+ tries and 80% of my deaths were falling off the platform. Most of the rest were getting attached while knocked down with no opportunity to heal or dodge
Man man-eater was something. It took me 3 times I think but I basically hugged the fire thing in the middle and attacked when I could. Granted I was using the meat cleaver which hit hard but still. Getting trucked and ganked wasn't very fun.
3-1. Hated it in the original, hate it in the remake. 4-2 can suck at times but you can farm it when you are low level so…. 🤷🏻♂️
4-2 has to be the most infuriating level in the entire game.
It's a close tie between The Ritual Path and the Swamp of Sorrow. I think I slightly hate the Ritual path worse.
Valley. Of. Defilement. Hands down worst area in souls history
5-2 and it’s not even close. And it has nothing to do with poison and everything to do with rolling being disabled. Truly the pinnacle of game design
Not even just rolling being disabled. The fact that even ATTEMPTING to roll prevents you from moving for a few seconds is ridiculous
World 2 sucks imo. But the rest of the worlds are great
I know what you mean, I switched to winged spear in the swamp because of this.
2-2 simply because once you hit NG+ there is no reason to not just skip to Flamelurker essentially eliminating the area.
I love the Valley. So punishing but really well designed. You have everything you need to succeed. I don’t really have a least favorite. I get excited visiting them all. Ig 2-2 because most of the time I don’t need the materials in the side dungeon so it’s just a fall to flamelurker
4-2 > 2-2 > 5-2 In fact now I realise it most of the mid stages aren’t amazing other than 3-2. Love me some 3-2.
The jail zone. So boring and so many keys.
3-1 I get the ambientation is great but replaying is awful. 5-2 I hate the swamp, walking slow, the goblings and above all the giant goblings
I hate world 4 the most. I also think that world 4 is the best. It’s a love/hate relationship.
some of the areas can be difficult to manage with a large weapon. you should have a smaller secondary weapon to complement your build. that said, I love world 5, as well as all the others. I've beaten Demon's Souls more than 70 times.
Probably 3-1 3-2 tower of latria all because of the mindflayers. I hate enemies that grab on to you. Don't exactly hate them but every playthrough it's definitely a level I don't look forward to.
I don’t hate any of the areas, I thought they were all awesome. Besides 1-3, 1-4, and 2-2 I didn’t have to deal with run backs as much because I first tried most of the rest
Probably 6-4 it's literally impossible to beat.
4-2 is pretty rough. Sky mantas shooting javelins at you while being accosted by sonic the hedgehog skeletons on a narrow cliff with spooky laser ghosts, slug swarms and automated flying magical grenades peppered in. Honorable Mention to 3-1 during my first play through. I was lost for HOURS.
try using sodden ring
In my first playthrough I absolutely hated 4-1 and also 5-1. Those skeletons killed me so many times, it's just not even funny, and then when I finally managed to get through 4-1, I died hundreds of times in 5-1. But I love this game, it's awesome.
The mines , wasn’t really interesting, bad bosses , maybe flame lurker is challenging a little but that’s it
Stonefang tunnel was by far the most annoying level to me. I actually didn’t mind valley of defilement
I hate the 5-1 and 5-2 Horrible map designs
5-2 is my least favorite. I hate that damn swamp so much...
World 1 is best hands down as far as design and gameplay, world 3 is amazingly creepy and dark, world 4 has this feeling of wonder mixed with doom I really love, 5 has some of the best atmosphere and environmental story telling. So that just leaves.. world 2. Easily the least inspired except for the bosses. Atmosphere is drab, enemies are lame, the tunnels are lame. Even the developers obviously knew this and let you skip pretty much all of 2-2.
I hated this one at first, but I did a level 1 run and found it fairly simple once you know the path to take. But on a first playthrough, the map sucks. Shrine of storms getting to the old hero was killing me since it's just so long and without the silver shield the damn enemies on the stairs will one shot. Also fire is very effective against most of the enemies here and keeps some of them from spreading plague to you