Of all the From Software games, DS2 has the most "fuck you, that's why" moments. It's one of the reasons I liked it. It infuriated me, but it also left me laughing my ass off sometimes at the ridiculous ways I found to die or waste resources.
Honestly I kinda like the philosophy of the pharros lock stones. The game really doesn't depend on them at all, but it's always somewhat of a gamble what you get. Sometimes you get upgrade materials. Sometimes you get the face puking water/ lava/ poison.
It's often just a "use to see what you can get". Sometimes it's cool. Sometimes you essentially just lose the lock stone. Sometimes it opens doors to more enemies. Sometimes it gives you a shortcut. Makes the game feel much more mysterious. I always say that ds2 out of all the games feels the most like you're on a big adventure through different lands and this just adds to it.
The one I loved is in one of the giant memories you use the lockstone on a wall and it just shoots a spinning blade along the wall at you but it’s just delayed enough you’d have walked away from
It and just see the blade pass by lol
I was just about to mention that one as my favorite! But then just when I was done being pissed off I got to thinking that it might be hiding something more so I pressed A on the wall where the spinning blades were shot and a hidden wall revealed itself!!
Let's all be honest with ourselves here. That was probably the first achievement any of us unlocked in the game, and we all did it by falling to our deaths trying to grab that item next to the bridge in Things Betwixt.
Tbf the Lockstones were pretty abundant. If the petrified statues unlocked “fuck you that’s why” stuff instead, I’d be more pissed. But with them it was almost always something worth unlocking.
The DS2 cope is really incredible. Praising a design that makes the player waste a finite resource on useless or even detrimental shit without any way for the player to know that beforehand is just peak bullshit.
Lmao. So, the same problem with the Pharos lock stones: Without prior experience or outside information you can waste an effectively finite resource to your detriment. Unlike lockstones weapons are actually needed for the casual player to beat the game. Also, DS2 can be a flawed but still a good game with similar flaws to the other souls games. It's like being upset about hollowing in DS2 but having no problem with demon souls or DS3 embers. Its all the same.
Bro is just pissed cuz he can’t enjoy anything lol. You do know that it’s a game and it’s not that serious right? It gets me pissed off too but more in a fun way where I just feel like I’m the butt of the joke, and i believe you should be able to laugh at yourself and not take everything so seriously
The first time I got shafted playing Xbox Scholars and I used a lockstone to nowhere......I mentally applauded and thanked The Dark Soul that ladder/bonfire mimics aren't a thing.
Idk, I find it incredibly frustrating. It encourages googling everything, as opposed to knowing that using a stone sword key is definitely going to lead to something.
Nah, there are plenty of them that wasting some isn't a problem at all. Sometimes you place one and all it does is fill a puddle with healing water in a place you'll never return to, but that's life, some investments just fumble.
Well sure, that's life... But Dark Souls 2 isn't life lmao. It's a video game.
And listen, I know any and all criticism of this perfect game gets downvotes here no matter what. I don't really care. The stone swords work better, in my opinion.
I just find the implementation of the stonesword keys less interesting. Lockstones don't just open doors, they arm traps in rat king areas and change an entire area by lighting up the Warf. Pharros being some freaky guy is also more compelling lore-wise than the burial imps in my humble opinion. It creates more questions even if we may not have satisfying answers.
Rolling in water makes you wet, which makes you resist fire. It also washes off poison gunk which sticks to you and keeps building up poison as it's on your character.
Although it makes you take more damage from lightning sources.
Some of them are only helpful if you're a Tomb Keeper of the Old Lords *coughcough*) and dragging people into your world to kill them for invading the Labyrinth Tomb.
And some of them you have to do something else first to make it helpful. I.E there's one int he windmill that if you use, spews a pool of poison, unless you've burned the Windmill, in which case it spews a healing pool.
And the animation makes sense. In Elden Ring, the character just awkwardly palms the general location the key is supposed to go, then the key teleports into location
Personally I prefer the implementation of Fragrant Branches over Stonesword Keys. They're rare enough and impactful enough that they can create interesting routing decisions on subsequent playthroughs.
The thought just occurred to me this is the only Dark Souls game that has a similar mechanic. And this is a common meme template, pointing out similarities in things.
Like a use of it was "Octopuses are just wet spiders", just an example.
This is not how this meme works. The statement is supposed to be bold/controversial. Can be ironically bold/controversial. This isn't either, nor is it funny too.
It kinda is bold, nobody has ever mentioned Pharros Lockstone and Stonesword Key's similarities. The only thing wrong with the meme it should read "Stonesword Key is just a Pharros Lockstone", but people also mentioned its the same meaning.
Bro, you don't know how memes work, you don't even seem to know how English language works. Nothing about any of it is bold, just stop man, you're killing me with cringe and I wanna live till another day...
Naming wise, I get it. But to compare Vendrick to that dilapidated husk? Blasphemy. Vendrick had to fight his way to kingship, unlike Godrick who cheated his way there
Actually the idea originated in King’s Field 2 with Rhombus Keys, and then was continued in King’s Field 3 with Silviera’s Keys, so that concept has been a FromSoft staple since long before dark souls
Lockstones were there way before, so you're flipped it, but yes, they serve the same purpose. Stonesword Keys are less "nice" though because sometimes it costs 2.
Yeah as someone said fragrant branches are a better analogy. But also DS2 is much better cause every time I find one I'm excited cause I know there's somewhere to use it (I think... was there 1 spare branch?) while stoneswords I'm like yay here's the 10-th million useless stonesword (cause there are LITERALLY 3 times more stonesword keys in the game then places they unlock)...
Yeah IDK they really messed up with golden seeds and stoneswords which were meant to be exciting but instead there's so many of them, that for most of the playthrough I'm like "yeah whatever" when I find them. And I mean I'd have no issues if there was a couple of spare ones, but not 2/3 of them being spares.
That would be only true if the Imp statue sometimes just pissed up a small puddle that is almost useless or just put the lights on in the area so you can see a chest in the corner.
The only difference is that in the Interrealm there are a proportionate number of keys and locks, while in Dark Souls 2 the number of mechanisms and stones was 200 to 1.
In DS2, the main doors to open for me are the ones in the giants' fortress for the upgrade materials, the lock after the sentinels of ruin for the bell tower of the moon. If I've forgotten any other useful ones, let me know.
Dark souls 2 haters will always exist because it's easier to get your opinions from YouTube rather than thinking about why you like or hate something for yourself. Spells and scaling still work the way they do in DS2. It introduced the RPG mechanics and build variety that people have come to love in Fromsoft RPG's. If you mention that fact, you're just glazing DS2. It has flaws, as all these games do, but it is not objectively bad.
A lot of the good choices made in DS2, made their way into Elden Ring. Even the exploration gameplay loop. It's on a smaller scale in DS2 with its four branching paths, but it's still there.
You know thinking about it, the fact DS2 had two different single use puzzle items that could give you nothing, was a bit lame. Small potatoes in the whole games design but still.
My first souls game was elden Ring, and I loved seeing how many great features originated in older games and got polished and / or changed in elden ring. Most of these came from ds2 and I'd argue ds2 does some of them better. Pharos lockstones feel considerably cooler nit only visually but because they do a lot more things. Ds2 powerstancing is also mostly superior to ER.
You've got that in reverse, same meaning though
Pharros Lockstone is way cooler since you put it in weird faces sculpted around the world and they do different kinds of stuff.
And some of them do nothing helpful.
And that's beautiful.
Of all the From Software games, DS2 has the most "fuck you, that's why" moments. It's one of the reasons I liked it. It infuriated me, but it also left me laughing my ass off sometimes at the ridiculous ways I found to die or waste resources.
Honestly I kinda like the philosophy of the pharros lock stones. The game really doesn't depend on them at all, but it's always somewhat of a gamble what you get. Sometimes you get upgrade materials. Sometimes you get the face puking water/ lava/ poison.
It's often just a "use to see what you can get". Sometimes it's cool. Sometimes you essentially just lose the lock stone. Sometimes it opens doors to more enemies. Sometimes it gives you a shortcut. Makes the game feel much more mysterious. I always say that ds2 out of all the games feels the most like you're on a big adventure through different lands and this just adds to it.
Water is actually useful as you can roll in it to get rid of some harmful effects like poison
The one in earthen peaks specifically heals you slowly as you sit in it.
Much more useful than you think
So does the one in iron keep, and if you roll in it you’re damp until you respawn, so you resist all the fire the Smelter Demon throws your way
HUH?!?!!?!!
I DJDNT THINK OF THAT
I thought it had a duration, was that changed? Or it’s always been until respawn?
I don’t usually live long enough to check for a duration lol
The one I loved is in one of the giant memories you use the lockstone on a wall and it just shoots a spinning blade along the wall at you but it’s just delayed enough you’d have walked away from It and just see the blade pass by lol
I was just about to mention that one as my favorite! But then just when I was done being pissed off I got to thinking that it might be hiding something more so I pressed A on the wall where the spinning blades were shot and a hidden wall revealed itself!!
Was there anything good behind the hidden wall? Lol
I do remember there being a pretty good looking armor set and something else too
Steel Set, the one from DS1 that you get near the Ariamis painting in Anor Londo.
It has the biggest one.
And achievement for dying.
Thats right! To get platinum you need to skill issue at least once
Let's all be honest with ourselves here. That was probably the first achievement any of us unlocked in the game, and we all did it by falling to our deaths trying to grab that item next to the bridge in Things Betwixt.
Fuck the jumping tutorial.
Made me quit the game and finally come back after two weeks and the gamestop return window was up
DS2 is still my favorite, and this is one of the reasons why.
Yeah I hated just how much the game itself fucked with me on my first playthrough but now I love that it happened and new players get fucked with
Tbf the Lockstones were pretty abundant. If the petrified statues unlocked “fuck you that’s why” stuff instead, I’d be more pissed. But with them it was almost always something worth unlocking.
I love the Pharros lockstone that just activates a bunch of Traps in Doors of Pharros lol
That damn door in the bastille gets me like once every few runs lmao
Oh you are running from whole damn army of enraged assholes? Look there are door for your safety! Ooops, turns out its door into nothing and you dead.
The DS2 cope is really incredible. Praising a design that makes the player waste a finite resource on useless or even detrimental shit without any way for the player to know that beforehand is just peak bullshit.
Lmao upgrade paths for weapons in dark souls comes to mind. Titanite and weapons are way more finite and way more detrimental to waste.
Titanite isn't finite except for slabs and you can always revert fire/lightning etc upgrade. Shows what you guys actually know outside of slop souls.
Lmao. So, the same problem with the Pharos lock stones: Without prior experience or outside information you can waste an effectively finite resource to your detriment. Unlike lockstones weapons are actually needed for the casual player to beat the game. Also, DS2 can be a flawed but still a good game with similar flaws to the other souls games. It's like being upset about hollowing in DS2 but having no problem with demon souls or DS3 embers. Its all the same.
Bro is just pissed cuz he can’t enjoy anything lol. You do know that it’s a game and it’s not that serious right? It gets me pissed off too but more in a fun way where I just feel like I’m the butt of the joke, and i believe you should be able to laugh at yourself and not take everything so seriously
Nobody says you aren't allowed to enjoy dumb game design. But that doesn't make it good.
It can make it good. It’s just a matter of perspective.
The first time I got shafted playing Xbox Scholars and I used a lockstone to nowhere......I mentally applauded and thanked The Dark Soul that ladder/bonfire mimics aren't a thing.
Sometimes it’s a useless pool of water. And we love that.
Idk, I find it incredibly frustrating. It encourages googling everything, as opposed to knowing that using a stone sword key is definitely going to lead to something.
Nah, there are plenty of them that wasting some isn't a problem at all. Sometimes you place one and all it does is fill a puddle with healing water in a place you'll never return to, but that's life, some investments just fumble.
Rolling in the healing water also grants you fire res for like a minute and washes off any status ailments on your body.
Yeah this is actually big, for me at least. The ones in Iron Keep are especially useful.
Well sure, that's life... But Dark Souls 2 isn't life lmao. It's a video game.
And listen, I know any and all criticism of this perfect game gets downvotes here no matter what. I don't really care. The stone swords work better, in my opinion.
I just find the implementation of the stonesword keys less interesting. Lockstones don't just open doors, they arm traps in rat king areas and change an entire area by lighting up the Warf. Pharros being some freaky guy is also more compelling lore-wise than the burial imps in my humble opinion. It creates more questions even if we may not have satisfying answers.
You are sucking the fun out the game by yourself 🤷♂️
Lockstones are an infinite resource
Nah it’s just annoying for the sake of being annoying because “it’s dark souls, bro”
the amount of them that just spit out water is way too high
Rolling in water makes you wet, which makes you resist fire. It also washes off poison gunk which sticks to you and keeps building up poison as it's on your character.
Although it makes you take more damage from lightning sources.
some water also regen your health which is pretty helpful
They all do super helpful things!
Some of them are only helpful if you're a Tomb Keeper
of the Old Lords*coughcough*) and dragging people into your world to kill them for invading theLabyrinthTomb.And some of them you have to do something else first to make it helpful. I.E there's one int he windmill that if you use, spews a pool of poison, unless you've burned the Windmill, in which case it spews a healing pool.
To be fair, there are a bunch of stonesword key gates that also do nothing useful. Elden Ring really is Dark Souls 2: 2.
Most. Most of them
The Doors of Pharros were a major disappointment for me :(
This isn’t even true but people just be saying shit I guess
You getting downvoted but you are correct.
And the animation makes sense. In Elden Ring, the character just awkwardly palms the general location the key is supposed to go, then the key teleports into location
I also like 😮 looks better than a statue of literal monkeyfuck
Yep, I miss the unpredictability of them. Stonesword keys dispel barrier mist at a five foot range, and that's about it.
No they also unlock a few evergayolls
Ha, I pronounced it like that for a long time.Yeah, they unlock those too. And open portal gates. Maybe they're not that boring.
But what about the imps having sex?
Now I can't unsee it.
Technically you are also putting the stone sword keys in weird faces sculpted around the world.
Nothing beats the demon doors from Fable 2
Reverse the word order
Key Stonesword, a just Lockstone Pharros
Nailed it.
somehow I got it wrong lol
Redro
Wrong, stonesword are pharros lockstones
Wrong. Pharros Locksword Key is just a Stonestone.
Real
Fragnant Branch of yore is literally stonesword key.
Definitely the better analogy
fragrant branch is orladin's pic from kings field 3
Personally I prefer the implementation of Fragrant Branches over Stonesword Keys. They're rare enough and impactful enough that they can create interesting routing decisions on subsequent playthroughs.
fr
Na, they can unlock NPCs or reveal tough enemies, it’s cool on the first playthrough to not know what to expect when you free someone
It's like saying bonfires are sites of grace. Cringe
Yea, what the fuck is the point of this post? The guy wants to feel like he's clever or something but he really isn't?
The thought just occurred to me this is the only Dark Souls game that has a similar mechanic. And this is a common meme template, pointing out similarities in things.
Like a use of it was "Octopuses are just wet spiders", just an example.
Every From game is pretty much just a reskin of the last, didn't you know?
This is not how this meme works. The statement is supposed to be bold/controversial. Can be ironically bold/controversial. This isn't either, nor is it funny too.
It kinda is bold, nobody has ever mentioned Pharros Lockstone and Stonesword Key's similarities. The only thing wrong with the meme it should read "Stonesword Key is just a Pharros Lockstone", but people also mentioned its the same meaning.
People have pointed this out since Elden Ring was released. You’re just a newjack
Bro, you don't know how memes work, you don't even seem to know how English language works. Nothing about any of it is bold, just stop man, you're killing me with cringe and I wanna live till another day...
THIS. Just because it's never been said before doesn't mean it's bold. Just because it's different doesn't always mean it's worth something
There's a reason they say Elden Ring is Dark Souls 2 Remastered.
You ever considered that the Fire Giant, the last living giant is basically the Last Giant?
How about Godrick and Vendrick?
Also PCR moveset is reused from Vengar on DS2
Naming wise, I get it. But to compare Vendrick to that dilapidated husk? Blasphemy. Vendrick had to fight his way to kingship, unlike Godrick who cheated his way there
My bad I meant Godfrey :D
the names messed me up
Fraid you’ve got that backwards buddy boy
I feel like this was supposed to be a dunk on DS2 but all it did was dunk on Elden Ring.
It's literally the other way around. And you're not saying anything here btw
it's the opposite, this must've been the work of a elden ring first souls game player
no, no, not
Stonesword Key is Pharros Lockstone
No, the stone sword key is a Pharros lockstone.
Reverse, actually.
Bro why is yours the only comment from a non deleted user what happened here lol
Entirely backwards.
Well you got it backwards but yeah. A lot of games have consumable keys tho....
Wrong. Stonesword keys are just Pharros Lockstones.
OMG DS2 COPIED ELDEN RING!1! /s
Actually the idea originated in King’s Field 2 with Rhombus Keys, and then was continued in King’s Field 3 with Silviera’s Keys, so that concept has been a FromSoft staple since long before dark souls
That’s backwards but yeah. Elden Ring is more a successor to Dark Souls II than the other two Souls games.
Pharros Lockstone had more uses. Can set up traps with them for covenant usage and reveal illusory walls, praise Pharros Lockstones!
You got it backwards, like people saying that smt/persona copied pokemon when smt predates pokemon by 9 years.
It’s the other way round, stone sword keys are just Pharros lock stones
Avocado is just guacamole
Other way around bozo
You mean “stone sword key is just pharros stone”
Yeah lol
Holy shit I never thought of that before
I like DS2, but the problem is that it has two stonesword keys
Other way around. Plus i dont see anyone putting stonesword keys in mouths carved into the walls and floor
Yeah. And?
And?
Lockstones were there way before, so you're flipped it, but yes, they serve the same purpose. Stonesword Keys are less "nice" though because sometimes it costs 2.
Stonesword keys are just the lesser and boring version of Pharros lockstones
I still call it a lock stone while playing nightriegn
they are just the red keycard from duke nukem
With fewer uses.
Okay??…and??
Awesome way to bait comments xD
They just made the made more keys from the stones. Less weight since you already carry a crap load of stuff. 🤣
Had there been one stone for every door then I might have forgiven them.
Yeah as someone said fragrant branches are a better analogy. But also DS2 is much better cause every time I find one I'm excited cause I know there's somewhere to use it (I think... was there 1 spare branch?) while stoneswords I'm like yay here's the 10-th million useless stonesword (cause there are LITERALLY 3 times more stonesword keys in the game then places they unlock)...
Yeah IDK they really messed up with golden seeds and stoneswords which were meant to be exciting but instead there's so many of them, that for most of the playthrough I'm like "yeah whatever" when I find them. And I mean I'd have no issues if there was a couple of spare ones, but not 2/3 of them being spares.
At least Pharros lock stones don't keep a message on your screen that prevents you from doing anything.
That would be only true if the Imp statue sometimes just pissed up a small puddle that is almost useless or just put the lights on in the area so you can see a chest in the corner.
Wouldn't it be the other way around given how much Dark souls 2 influenced Elden Ring
BITCH! Its the othe way around.
They're both just rhombus keys actually ☝️🤓
They're both just a less metal Key to the Embedded
The only difference is that in the Interrealm there are a proportionate number of keys and locks, while in Dark Souls 2 the number of mechanisms and stones was 200 to 1. In DS2, the main doors to open for me are the ones in the giants' fortress for the upgrade materials, the lock after the sentinels of ruin for the bell tower of the moon. If I've forgotten any other useful ones, let me know.
True. Both of the times I, at the same time, want to save them for ever AND get dsappointed half the time whenever I'm using them.
So, they make me happy about 25 % of the time.
Keys have been in games forever.
yeah but at least it did something interesting sometimes
*A stonesword key withou I-Frames
Other way around.
Elden Ring is Dark Souls 2: 2
I'm not even joking.
Someone said the same thing you said and got down voted to hell
Dark souls 2 haters will always exist because it's easier to get your opinions from YouTube rather than thinking about why you like or hate something for yourself. Spells and scaling still work the way they do in DS2. It introduced the RPG mechanics and build variety that people have come to love in Fromsoft RPG's. If you mention that fact, you're just glazing DS2. It has flaws, as all these games do, but it is not objectively bad.
A lot of the good choices made in DS2, made their way into Elden Ring. Even the exploration gameplay loop. It's on a smaller scale in DS2 with its four branching paths, but it's still there.
You know thinking about it, the fact DS2 had two different single use puzzle items that could give you nothing, was a bit lame. Small potatoes in the whole games design but still.
But with more uses, less chance to kill you
And isn’t in a bad game
I agree, Elden Ring was bad.
:)
Ok and?
The scorching take is that it is stones word key
But no one not even the good lord himself is ready for that conversation. Crickets in the mainstream media
My first souls game was elden Ring, and I loved seeing how many great features originated in older games and got polished and / or changed in elden ring. Most of these came from ds2 and I'd argue ds2 does some of them better. Pharos lockstones feel considerably cooler nit only visually but because they do a lot more things. Ds2 powerstancing is also mostly superior to ER.
We get it, Elden Ring is Dark Souls 2 part 2
Your Forlorn Cookie™ is in the mail.
Because Elden Ring is DS2 2
The lockstones were better because they had a whole Indiana Jones graverobber PvP thing going on. Stonessword keys are actually branches of yore.