Is there a way to better enjoy "Dawn of Sorrow"?

[Billy Blaze]

I've beaten the game back on DS, then again on PC and now, in the collection (PS5).
But my god, do I hate this game sometimes.
If it wouldn't be for the soul-grinding, this game would be laughably short.
Most of my gametime comes from farming souls for weapons.

I've enjoyed "Aria of Sorrow" so much more, where weapons only lie around or being sold.
I remember the rush I've felt after discovering how to get Claimh Solais.
And, as far as I know, the Scythe is in some corner, but only in Hard-Mode.

And now?
There is no discovery.
The only weapons lying around are useless junk.
And obtaining Claimh Solais one of the most miserable gaming experiences ever.

There is so much I love about this game, but the whole structure around these souls ruined basically everything.
Plus the fact that you can level up souls now.
So redundant souls in "AoS", like 3 types of stat buffs, got reduced to one soul that can be upgraded if you get multiple copies.
Which sounds good on paper... but it's just more farming... one enemy over and over again.

Found a soul that's fun to use?
Time to get more copies of it in order to maximize its potential.
That's why the Mandragora soul is so good, cause you need one copy and are set.
If you got lucky, you can change it later for the Erynis soul, which is also instantly maxed out.

And one of the worst parts is, that you get absolutely overleveled.
Farming the Valkyrie for her soul got me 5 level-ups.
So after a while, you basically facetank most bosses, just because you wanted to upgrade a weapon.


So yeah, sorry if it sounds like hating just for the sake of it.
I haven't beaten the game 3 times already without reason, it is super fun, and the soul system is great since "AoS"... except that one didn't went overboard with it.

[xXBrothaManXx]

Its because of a bug in the games code where luck doesnt affect drop rateof souls. for some reason the devs couldnt be bothered to fix it.

[Vyadhi]

The best way to play DoS is still the definitive version patch for the DS rom that addresses luck and other things.

[Deathscare]

If you don't like the combat of DoS then play other franchises I guess.

[Stray Sheep Fenrir]

Originally posted by Deathscare:

If you don't like the combat of DoS then play other franchises I guess.

This post has nothing to do with the combat. Luck is bugged in this game still and the soul drop rate is ridiculous due to this.

[Macario]

I like DoS, but it's easily the weakest for me, even below any of the GBA games in my opinion. The low drops and yes, the symbols to kill bosses is a horrible mechanic, I would have preferred them to get rid of it completely in this collection. Even the story is not very exciting.

Don't worry if you haven't played the other 2 games in the collection and you are worried about the quality, the other 2 games make a huge jump in quality overall, obviously they have their own problems, but they are very good.

[Billy Blaze]

I'd rather not resort to emulating the game.
I mean, I have back then, and I still need to do it for the randomizer... but I still prefer playing the (or an) official version.

Also, I have played both "PoR" and "OoE", beaten both before, and now again in the collection.
Both share the place for the very best in the genre, but for different reasons each.
That's why I'm kinda sad that "DoS" is the weakest to me, also below the advance titles.
Well... it's on par with "CotM", cause the leveldesign of that game is terrible, but that's another story.

Even with fixed luck and what not, you still have to farm for these things... it's just slightly faster.

[SKINLESSHEAD]

Originally posted by Deathscare:

If you don't like the combat of DoS then play other franchises I guess.

Did you read the post at all? Or are you just spit balling?

[0wnz0r]

the romhacks the best way to play still

[Vyadhi]

How hard would it be to manually edit the game and change the luck modifier?

[Billy Blaze]

Originally posted by Vyadhis:

How hard would it be to manually edit the game and change the luck modifier?

On PS5, harder than a wiener in a brothel.

[HELRAVN]

The soul drop rate isn't awful, even if the luck is broken. I got 100% pretty fast, especially with the rewind option for farming enemies that were more time consuming. Whittle them down to 1 hit, then tap, rewind, tap, rewind. Easy peasy.

[CID]

Originally posted by Billy Blaze:

I'd rather not resort to emulating the game.
I mean, I have back then, and I still need to do it for the randomizer... but I still prefer playing the (or an) official version.

Also, I have played both "PoR" and "OoE", beaten both before, and now again in the collection.
Both share the place for the very best in the genre, but for different reasons each.
That's why I'm kinda sad that "DoS" is the weakest to me, also below the advance titles.
Well... it's on par with "CotM", cause the leveldesign of that game is terrible, but that's another story.

Even with fixed luck and what not, you still have to farm for these things... it's just slightly faster.

When I would replay my DS copy, I would use an Action Replay to nerf exp gains specifically for this reason, to help compensate for overleveling while farming for souls.

I’m hope a rom patcher, similar to the advance collection, will come available soon. I would love to play with both a fixed luck stat and lower exp gains or forced level caps.

[Revengicide]

Do a speedrun.
I've played DoS so much back on the DS that it's the only way I can do it anymore, so I know how you feel. There's so many bug that the kind of routes you can make are pretty ridiculous.

I wouldn't advise a Julius speedrun though if you're not willing to lose 20+ minutes of a run in the blink of an eye. Abaddon is pure RNG ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ when you're only level 19-20.

[Vyadhi]

Originally posted by HELRAVN:

The soul drop rate isn't awful, even if the luck is broken. I got 100% pretty fast, especially with the rewind option for farming enemies that were more time consuming. Whittle them down to 1 hit, then tap, rewind, tap, rewind. Easy peasy.

This is a good idea, I should have done that.

I'm going to work on the RA set for the rom then probably return to this.

[Frostea]

Originally posted by HELRAVN:

The soul drop rate isn't awful, even if the luck is broken. I got 100% pretty fast, especially with the rewind option for farming enemies that were more time consuming. Whittle them down to 1 hit, then tap, rewind, tap, rewind. Easy peasy.

Does this actually work because when I did it they kept dropping the same coin over and over. It would only change if I killed the enemy at a different timeframe or after rewinding further. This actually got me thinking that there was possibly a memory value that changes based on time and that is ultimately what determines the item drop in a way. I’ve seen similar things in other games, most notably the wrong warping in Zelda: OoT was discovered to work in a similar manner.

I didn’t try it long enough to see if the soul would still drop, because as soon as I noticed the same coin dropping I kinda gave up on it. But it is something I found interesting.