What books are most like Dark Souls?
You want to read poetry
>>7695264
Gormenghast Trilogy? it has plenty of spooky deserted castles and stuff
fantasy novels in a language you only half understand
>>7695271
Perfect.
Also, maybe Book of the New Sun for that deserted, decaying world feel.
>>7695264
Dark Souls had a plot? Other than "Kill Bosses?" Where was it?
>>7695278
in the item descriptions
Greek mythology
Heart of Darkness
>>7695264
>never played games before
>want to experience the greatest that the video game art form has to offer
>install Dark Souls
>tfw can't get past the first boss
>>7695264
Dead Souls
>>7695264
Norse Mythology
Icelandic Sagas
>>7695294
It's a bad port, so there's no way to properly control the game on PC without installing a bunch of mods.
>>7695336
Or you know, a controller.
>>7695336
use a gamepad
that being said I beat the game vanilla with k+m
>>7695323
What do you call a Norse hip-hop artist?
>>7695264
my diary desu
>>7695278
This fucking shitter...
>>7695336
yeah because Installing one mod and changing a 0 to a 1 is super duper hard, right?
>>7695294
Get a controller, the game is only as hard as you make it yourself.
It's easy if you spam spells or use a shield, but it can be very challenging if you only roll and 2h
>>7695264
In search of lost time because if your attention flags for a moment you have to start over.
>>7695278
Nice bait anon. I almost fell for it.
>>7695278
Cmon man
>>7695348
Pretty flyter for a white guy
>>7695476A Rhyme Giant
>>7695546
Not bad but of course I like mine better
>>7695264
The Phenomenology of Spirit - Hegel
Book of the new sun has similar themes of entropy & rebirth. The lore is told in metaphors and tiny snippets of information, just like in Dark Souls. I am a huge fan of both.
>>7695264
Dead Souls
>>7695264
i'd wager finnegans wake, in terms of how you approach it. re reading passages the same way you run through the same areas in dark souls after dying, the vague and sometimes surreal plot line, and the difficulty in general.
>>7696724
Finnegans wake bears more simarity to bloodborne
Infinite Jest.
>reputation for being forbidding and hard
>in reality is 'mainstream-hard' rather than actually hard
>everybody who finishes it contributes to the conspiracy that it's actually hard because it benefits them
>fans are obnoxious
>>7695264
Finnegans Wake
>>7696732
It doesn't have a reputation for being hard. It has a reputation for being long.
>>7696751
no, it undoubtedly has a reputation for being hard
>>7696732
Surprisingly accurate.
>playing video games
Read books. It's more rewarding and doesn't involve false accomplishments. If you read good books the story isn't YA tier garbage.
>>7695264
Greek mythology:
Gwyn = Zeus
Nito = Hades
Witch of Izalith (Fire) = Poseidon (Water)
Old dragons = Titans
Furtive pygmy descendant (you) = Prometheus
>>7696848
Sort of a redundant point when OP is in fact asking for books to read.
I don't even play video games anymore, and I transitioned from video games to books via S.T.A.L.K.E.R. to Roadsice Picnic and Metro 2033
>>7696758
I was referring to infinite jest
>>7696908
me too
>>7696866
I did via Rome Total War loading screen sayings like 15(?) years ago. I was already a reader of genre fiction.
>>7695348
a refugee?
>>7695336
Install DSFix, get a controller. That's hardly a bunch of mods.
>>7696964
Dwlwlete thjs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
>>7696848
>doesn't involve false accomplishments
>implying people don't read "hard" books for the sense of accomplishment
You could just do both.
>>7696848
Fighting games and party games are enjoyable either way because it becomes a social thing. I agree that most single player games are shit.
>>7696848
>doesn't involve false accomplishments
>WOW SEBASTIAN YOU'VE READ A LOT OF BOOKS
What did /lit/ think about bloodbones?
>>7697011
Literally my favourite game ever
>>7697011
Seems easier than Dark Souls, at least that's the impression I got from watching my nephew play it.
>>7697039
Maybe he's just better than you at games
>>7697043
lol no
He was one-shotting enemies with the default axe 5 minutes after starting.
Plus he returned the game to his buddy after like a week without finishing it
>>7697049
Bloodborne is faster-paced than Dark Souls and you can do things that you never could in Souls like taking on big crowds of weak enemies and generally playing much more aggressively. Plus you can parry-fish without putting yourself in too much danger. But it's still tuned pretty tightly, and doesn't reward cautious play like Souls does.
I'd say it's generally very comparable in difficulty. And there are a couple of bosses in BB which gave me more trouble than any Souls boss (except Roof Gargoyles first time through which is still the most grief any video game has ever given me, ever; yes, I was too stubborn to summon Solaire).
I'm thinking about making an infograph about Soulsborne literature, the problem is that I haven't read everything on my list, tell me what you think.
Things I've read:
>Lovecraft
>Machen
>Book of the New Sun
>Poe
>House on the Borderlands
>King in Yellow
Things I haven't read yet:
>Dunsany
>Dying Earth
>Bierce
>Blackwood
These should be the things with more ties with the games, to my knowledge. Do you think there are other essential works that should be on a chart like this?
>>7695278
OP didn't say anything about plot.
After a certain point, these types of games always end up feeling fake to me. You fight these enemies again and again, but you know nothing about them. Vague hints from items, that drop names you don't understand. There is a certain charm to it, but I wish the world felt more alive, that you could find some semblance of an actual humanity that once existed in the ruins of the games.
>>7697206
>i have no imagination whatsoever
>>7697206
>I wish the world felt more alive, that you could find some semblance of an actual humanity that once existed in the ruins of the games.
>what are items, npcs and the setting itself
>>7697220
>>7697209
While those elements are nice, I feel like the game uses them to just tell me about the history and lore and characters instead of create a world wherein I can experience these firsthand.
Take DS2, in Heide's tower. The cathedral of blue has a beautiful design, but ultimately, it looks generic. Their are no statues of old heroes or religious figures. No art that hints at what was worshiped here. The blue sentinel guy doesn't know. It makes it feel hollow.
And I have plenty of imagination. I just worry that DS's obtuse story encourages projection rather than deduction.
>>7695336
I finished it with mouse and keyboard and it was easy as shit.
>>7697251
looks like a typical gothic cathedral or something, pretty generic shit
https://www.google.rs/#q=gothic+cathedrals&tbm=isch
not sure what ppl worship in there, probably aesthetics.
>>7697257
That's what I'm saying. There is no personality, no humanity to it.
It's kind of dull.
>>7697266
what im saying its the same fucking shit like in the real fucking world. and your "reason" is not viable.
>>7697272
DaS2 might be shit, but Scholar of the First Sin was pretty good.
>>7695289
>Heart of Darkness
I had a quick conversation about this on /v/ with some guy, but he didn't really respond at one point. My point is that while HoD and DaS have some similarities in structure, they are mostly superficial and that the two don't have all that much in common. Were you that guy? I'd really like to continue that conversation.
>>7696724
DaS' plot is not surreal though.
>>7697074
I only read Dunsany's 51 Tales, and I'd say some of them have a certain Souls-esc feeling to them, like Death and Odysseys, The Dream of King Karna-Vootra (really recommend this one!), or The Return of the Exiles.
Though generally doesn't have a lot in common with Dark Souls. Really though, put Lord of the Rings there. Dunsany was an important inspiration for Tolkien, and the age of elves turning into the age of men (which is not necessarily a positive thing) is very much like Dark Souls.
>>7697267
I don't think that's true. When I walk into a building in my everyday life, there are often large or smile signs or evidence of human activity, interaction, involvement, etc. This evidence, for me, gives a place personality and distinction. It captures my imagination, and makes me wonder how and what type of person could have lived here or taken such an action. It expands my worldview.
I think a game like Dark Souls that is so dependent on quality game environment very often fails at making it feel real, and not just a good place for an exciting swordfight.
>>7697327
>I think a game like Dark Souls that is so dependent on quality game environment very often fails at making it feel real, and not just a good place for an exciting swordfight.
That might be true for Dark Souls 2, but 1 makes its locations seem very much like real places where people used to live. The thing is that most of the game takes place in ruines.
Ovid's Metamorphoses
>>7697353
In what sense? I mean, sure, there is that short part about the golden age turning into the silver age etc, but otherwise?
>>7697385
a bunch of myths and shit, idk
>>7697391
Then why not just recommend literally any other collection of myths?
>>7697395
because I like that one
>>7697286
Nah it's not but beside that that's not even the point here, genius.
>>7697251
Anor Londo in DS1 is inspired by the Cathedral of Milan.
Metempsychosis
>>7695294
>video game art form
>art
>Dark Souls
>art
>>7697469
>>7697435
Shame it doesn't live up to concept art.
No video game does, but at least some of them spawn some really nice nice artbooks.
>>7697495
Technical limitations and time constraints are a bitch.
>>7697435
Shh, don't spread that too much around, there are faggots who insist it's inspired by Notre Dame.
>>7697469
>you
>intelligent
House of Leaves, bruh
>>7697495
It came close. And it actually lets you go onto the scenery as gameplay areas.
>>7695336
It's certainly playable without any modding. I finished it in Wine playing keyboard-only: WASD for movement, arrows for vision, and Vi-keys for menu navigation.
>>7697798
I've heard of someone playing with a guitar hero controller. This sounds worse.
>>7697798
>wine
>keyboard only
>not even dsfix
I want to hug you and tell you it'll be alright
>>7697295
yeah I'm that guy
my point was mostly that DaS is a better HoD game than Spec Ops (which is total shit)
that being said it's closer to Apocalypse Now when considering the ending
>shady figures send you to a foreign land to hunt down a crazed former leader
>various difficulties along the way
>human relationships are generally ephemeral and based on usefulness, death has little weight
>hollows are similar to the natives in that they represent humanity in its most regressed state
>game ends with you killing Gwyn and taking his spot like in AN
I've seen a longer post with better points but the archive has gone down
>>7695294
...walk past him
>>7697251
Bloodborne does this really well actually
for example once you get to Cainhurst Castle you start to see lots and lots of statues placed casually around the place
when you reach the queen you realise she has placed them there to replace her subjects who have all died or turned into beasts
>>7697495
I think the Souls series and Bloodborne in particular are the best at living up to their concept art
Although Ullysses isnt really similar to dark souls in story, tone or setting the experience of reading it is akin to playing DS. It is a lengthy, arduous process where you will not pickup everything the first time and you sort have to piece things together from what little you understand. Also the difficulty of the process can vary depending how you go about it.
>>7698573
Also the major theme of both works is metempsychosis (the transformation or reincarnation of souls).
>>7697011
The closest something has ever gotten to the atmosphere of H.P. Lovecraft without being written by him.
Bloodborne is amazing.
Dark Souls has a lot of Grecian and Roman influence.
Read Metamorphoses or something.
>>7695264
What's the difference between dark and demon's souls?
Is dark souls just the new and improved demons souls?
>>7697456
definitely play the first one.
>>7699022
I started Bloodborne thinking it was only going to have classic monsters and spooky Victorian creeps. I was so pleasantly surprised with what happened.
>>7699141
Dark Souls is the spiritual successor to Demon's Souls. They both take place in different settings and have different characters and stories, although they share similar gameplay and style.
The main difference between the two, I'd say, is the atmosphere. The atmosphere in Demon's Souls is very bleak, and feels more unsettling.
Dark Souls is also quite bleak, but, while it has quite it's share of disturbing and unsettling moments, it's atmosphere is more melancholic and sad.
While the two games' themes are superficially very similar (they both deal with a once great kingdom now ravaged by time and madness), I prefer Dark Souls' very sad atmosphere. There's something very longing about the setting, and the NPCs and backstories are very tragic and heartbreaking.
So yeah. It really depends what kind of atmosphere you want. Also, Dark Souls is open world while Demon's Souls has a sort of level select.
>>7699030
>and then she has turn'd the peasants
>into loud-croaking evergreen frogies
yeah, no.
>>7699164
Yeah, they pulled a very effective bait-and-switch. They marketed the game as being pure, classic, gothic horror, but then halfway through they pull the rug out from under you and reveal that it was cosmic horror all along.
Read the Berserk manga, watch Evil Dead 2 and that should cover your DarkSouls crave.
Begin learning a new language
Pick up a fantasy novel in that language
Try your best to follow along and fill in the gaps of what you don't understand with your imagination
>>7698522
>I think the Souls series and Bloodborne in particular are the best at living up to their concept art
Try Metroid Prime.
>>7699338
>Miyazaki did it
>I can do it too!
>>7699430
Stay ignorant pleb.
>>7699435
It's the opposite, actually. You wander in your ignorancy and when anything happens you marvel with your mouth open like a fool.
Viriconium
What books can inspire wanderlust and a desire for adventure?
>>7695272
this is what inspired the creation of dark souls in the first place, so this
>>7696990
Made me laugh
>>7699167
Demon's Souls is also more modular-based, the Nexus being a central hub, while the dungeons are relatively small scale. Its constraints have a feel sort of like a laboratory. This makes sense, because developer philosophies prefer to start small and focus on mechanics, before messing around with huge dungeon sprawls.
Are there any fantasy books with detailed descriptions of gothic dungeons and associated mood setting? I haven't read anything like that in fantasy literature. BotNS does not do that for the citadel. Dying Earth has gorgeous description of markets, but not stone architecture. Even Tolkien's descriptions of Khazad-Dum were relatively sparse.
>>7695264
berserk
>>7695264
Atlas Shrugged
