I don't get Dark Souls...

[Lil Frier]

You say the game is 'griefing' you. I say the game is 'testing' you. The game doesn't hand everything to you on a silver platter, but it also isn't THAT difficult. It is just a shock for some people not to be told what to do, how to do it, and not being able to do it on the first try. Most modern games are beaten with almost no deaths, and when you do die it is of little or no consequence.

I like reading this about the game. I've been playing Black Ops II on my 360 for a few days, after taking several months off. I'm already getting bored of it, mostly because I do well. The game's just not hard. In the campaign, it only got hard when you cranked it up to Veteran and got pinned at a checkpoint.

I grabbed this on PC during the Holiday Sale for $6 (annoyed that it went on-sale for $5 on Xbox this past week), and once I get through Dishonored, I'm hopefully going to give Dark Souls a try. I have a tendency to get frustrated with repeated failure, but I'm looking forward to getting punished and having to learn to try to get better and pay better attention with this.

As much as I liked Skyrim, for example, I was extremely disappointed how poor the difficulty was, and how the game scaled so badly that you could beat the game at basically any level (I had a friend do it at 26, I think). I miss difficulty and challenge, and not from the CoD/Halo standpoint, where it's getting a bad checkpoint or having hyper-accurate AI that never has to reload or run out of ammo.

 

[Born2bwire]

NVM IM DONE WITH THIS THREAD. Have your cake, whatever.

Just an announcement, it has been 7 weeks since Grimbones was done with this thread. It's been 7 weeks and I'm sure that he is totally over this whole thing. I can't possibly imagine him, coming here, 7 weeks after he announced that he was finished with this thread, to once again talk about something that he hates to strangers that he will never meet.

I'm sure that Grimbones, the one that was finished with this thread 7 weeks ago, would not suddenly look at this thread again, 7 weeks later, and start posting to dig it all up again. And I'm sure that being a rational person, who had 7 weeks to get over it, wouldn't then ask to have it closed after he came back, 7 weeks later, to bring it up all over again. I mean, who would do such a thing, after 7 weeks. Clearly, Grimbones, is a rational person to be having a conversation with.

 

[46andtool]

Just an announcement, it has been 7 weeks since Grimbones was done with this thread. It's been 7 weeks and I'm sure that he is totally over this whole thing. I can't possibly imagine him, coming here, 7 weeks after he announced that he was finished with this thread, to once again talk about something that he hates to strangers that he will never meet.

I'm sure that Grimbones, the one that was finished with this thread 7 weeks ago, would not suddenly look at this thread again, 7 weeks later, and start posting to dig it all up again. And I'm sure that being a rational person, who had 7 weeks to get over it, wouldn't then ask to have it closed after he came back, 7 weeks later, to bring it up all over again. I mean, who would do such a thing, after 7 weeks. Clearly, Grimbones, is a rational person to be having a conversation with.

lol! I loved Dark Souls

 

[46andtool]

I love a challenge in games. I love the idea of playing a game where you start out with nothing and you have to build yourself up. There is very little feeling of progression to this game though.

One of my favorite MMO's ever was EQ, it was considered a hardcore MMO, and still is considered to be such.

I'll just leave it at this, because i feel like i've been spinning my wheels forever, and am not sure why i reopened this up--i guess because i hate when people feel like they know everything about me from one game i have played....

To me, it's just not worth the stress, and pain involved in dying over and over. Even when i managed to make headway i would be blindsided by a new threat and die, and have to repreat a lot of frustration to get back to where i was. The game is cruel in that respect. It seems to invent ways to grief the player at every turn. I will never understand how people can argue otherwise, and that's just the way it is, so i guess this thread is moot.

I guess some people get off on that stuff. I guess i do not. Sorry i made this thread, but i am unsure if i can close it or not.

A mod certainly can, if they see this post.

Your just frustrated and venting. This is not the way it is. This is your opinion of the way you think it is. Experiences vary. I too was frustrated by dark souls in the beginning, but that's only because I was new to the game. Yes the beginning was punishing, but once I learned the mechanics and what was expected of me as the player to survive and push onward, the combat became very very rewarding.

You actually have to time dodges and rolls and attacks, and every swing and strike counts. You cant say that about most games. Skyrim on the other hand.. which I love, has very simple combat that gets boring quickly.

The reason I picked up dark souls was because I had experience with From Software when they developed the Kings Field series. I loved that series when I was younger. It too was a punishing rpg, but its game play is never unfair or cheap and if you are frustrated that is YOUR fault for not adapting to what the game requires to succeed.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Dark Souls is not a platform game. At all. If you were expecting Super Mario Bros., I can understand your disappointment.

You have to be retarded to even think that's what I was saying. Coming from you I shouldn't be the least bit surprised.

The game makes you do platforming when it has shit controls.

 

[Grey!matter]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Grimbones
I love a challenge in games. I love the idea of playing a game where you start out with nothing and you have to build yourself up. There is very little feeling of progression to this game though.

One of my favorite MMO's ever was EQ, it was considered a hardcore MMO, and still is considered to be such.

I'll just leave it at this, because i feel like i've been spinning my wheels forever, and am not sure why i reopened this up--i guess because i hate when people feel like they know everything about me from one game i have played....

To me, it's just not worth the stress, and pain involved in dying over and over. Even when i managed to make headway i would be blindsided by a new threat and die, and have to repreat a lot of frustration to get back to where i was. The game is cruel in that respect. It seems to invent ways to grief the player at every turn. I will never understand how people can argue otherwise, and that's just the way it is, so i guess this thread is moot.

I guess some people get off on that stuff. I guess i do not. Sorry i made this thread, but i am unsure if i can close it or not.

A mod certainly can, if they see this post.

I loved the game, and didn't find the game that hard TBH. If i messed up, i learned and didn't mess it up again at that point. I would think if you can so frustrated and don't like a game, why are you even playing? do you feel slighted that you're not good at it? It's funny that you mention EQ being hardcore when all it was is just mindless grinding. I raided in wow in a top 30 us guild and we've pulled certain bosses more than 400 times. so because another game is considered hardcore and you do well, you should be amazing at another game? I don't go into a game thinking im going to be amazing, maybe you should treat other games as such.

Only 2 places caused me to die a lot, new londo ruin archers and oreinstein fight

 

[zerogear]

I had an amusing time reading this thread

 

[Fenixgoon]

i tried dark souls and at the time, my rig was not beefy enough to handle it at full res. also, using KBM sucked.

now that i've remedied both of those situations, i should probably go back and play it. i got to some big monster in the 1st 5 seconds who damn near killed me. i'm guessing you're not supposed to be able to beat him at that point. hell, i didn't really understand the controls yet

 

[Udgnim]

Dark Souls has been speed run in 1 hour and 24 minutes

the game requires you to learn its mechanics and once you do, the game becomes much more straightforward

only issue is how well you learn those mechanics

 

[Squeetard]

Welp, against my better judgement, I dropped $30 on it this weekend to give it a shot. Took me 6 hours just to get the stupid game to start without crashing. I had issues with GFWL, my Saitek controller and my monitor refresh rate. Game looks ugly as hell on PC, even with dsfix and mods. 30fps? Come one.
So, crappy port aside (unbelievably crappy port), away I went. Died 15 times at the first Boss, Asylum Demon. Rage quit and uninstalled. I have no desire to try and beat this game. Fight my way through the same old enemies 15 times only to get to the boss and die. Boss fights are stupid and unfair. Controls are clunky as hell. I dodge roll and still get hit.
Not my type of game at all, not rewarding, only tedious and frustrating. Lesson learned.

 

[EDUSAN]

i had a love/hate relationship with dark souls, but in the end i learned to love it. Now it sits at 100hs in my steam account, 1 playthrough and 3/4 of the 2nd one, and cant wait for DS2 to be released and as soon as the bugs are fixed ill probably buy it

I wasted like 20hs in my 1st character, which was badly leveled up and it was stuck in a section that was where he was supposed to go for a beginner but, of course, i didnt know that.

so i started it again (like 6 months later), i considered myself a good and skilled gamer in general, so i couldnt accept that the game would beat me so easily. So, following a character guide to know how to spend my points, and to know where to go after each section (being an open world, you have access to parts that you are not prepared to face, and you will find out the hard way of course)
With this character i learned the game and finished it. took me aproximately 40hs and i didnt do some parts.

After i finished it...i felt i couldnt play anything else. The other games i had felt so easy and unrewarding compared to dark souls, so a couple days later i started it again (i didnt do NG+, that is not my thing, i rather have a complete new character)

Of course once you know every enemy you face in the game, how many of them are, and where they are, what can they do and what cant they do, which ones respawn after dying, which ones dont, what items are in each chest, what attack you REALLY need to dodge, where is each fireplace, what can be bought in each vendor, the game becomes quite easier and enjoyable. I still died a lot of times, but you get to a point in which you dont care too much.

It might not be fun, but its damn addicting, challenging and rewarding.
But you can definetely not like it, im not gonna be one of those fanboys that say that its a hard game. IT IS NOT, as a matter of fact it is pretty easy, once you know how to move in the world.

 

[Jodell88]

i got to some big monster in the 1st 5 seconds who damn near killed me. i'm guessing you're not supposed to be able to beat him at that point. hell, i didn't really understand the controls yet

 

[PowerYoga]

Welp, against my better judgement, I dropped $30 on it this weekend to give it a shot. Took me 6 hours just to get the stupid game to start without crashing. I had issues with GFWL, my Saitek controller and my monitor refresh rate. Game looks ugly as hell on PC, even with dsfix and mods. 30fps? Come one.
So, crappy port aside (unbelievably crappy port), away I went. Died 15 times at the first Boss, Asylum Demon. Rage quit and uninstalled. I have no desire to try and beat this game. Fight my way through the same old enemies 15 times only to get to the boss and die. Boss fights are stupid and unfair. Controls are clunky as hell. I dodge roll and still get hit.
Not my type of game at all, not rewarding, only tedious and frustrating. Lesson learned.

if you're getting hit, you're dodging wrong. The controls feel clunky... because they sort of are. It takes some getting used to but they feel responsive for what they're supposed to do. You're not going to be rolling around like kratos or dante though, its not supposed to feel like that.

Crappy port issue aside, you're supposed to run around the demon to get to a different place the first time. You get to go to a higher vantage point where you get to jump stab him, giving you a head start by taking off half of his hp. Watch his patterns and he's actually really easy.

 

[McWatt]

Welp, against my better judgement, I dropped $30 on it this weekend to give it a shot. Took me 6 hours just to get the stupid game to start without crashing. I had issues with GFWL, my Saitek controller and my monitor refresh rate. Game looks ugly as hell on PC, even with dsfix and mods. 30fps? Come one.
So, crappy port aside (unbelievably crappy port), away I went. Died 15 times at the first Boss, Asylum Demon. Rage quit and uninstalled. I have no desire to try and beat this game. Fight my way through the same old enemies 15 times only to get to the boss and die. Boss fights are stupid and unfair. Controls are clunky as hell. I dodge roll and still get hit.
Not my type of game at all, not rewarding, only tedious and frustrating. Lesson learned.

I'm not suggesting you personally play anymore, but since you brought up the 30 fps cap I thought I'd comment. In the DSFix ini file you can change that cap to 60 fps. Once I played at 60, going back to 30 is incredibly painful - the game feels so much better and more responsive when the animations are fluid.

However, due to gravity calculations being per frame and not per time, at 60 fps you can't jump as far. This only matters in about 3 spots throughout the entire game. When you get to them, save/quit/revert the cap to 30 fps/do your jump/save/quit/raise the cap to 60. It's worth the futziness.

 

[artemicion]

It feels so appropriate that a Dark Souls thread has so much griefing in it.

You do have to have a sort of twisted sense of humor to enjoy the game. Hell, it's a game where other players can grief you by writing messages that basically say, "Hey, jump in this hole in the ground because it's a secret." And you jump in the hole, die and realize you got punked.

Or another player can join your game at any time without your consent and kill you. Often at a point when you've made significant progress without reaching the next bonfire (waypoint). Often at a point when you've gathered a ton of souls which you drop and possibly lose forever upon your death.


If these things happened to you and your response is, "This is infuriating and stupid," then you won't like Dark Souls. If these things happened to you and your response is "LOL," then Dark Souls is for you.

 

[clok1966]

it is simply a love or hate game. As its real time and 3D there are no CHEAP kills as so many suggest, every trap, every room, every mob has a clue, if you see it or not is not a reason to call the game CHEAP. Have you ever been taught something? you do, you fail, you correct. If you "know it all" you didnt need to be taught. Every boss telegraphs his attacks in some way, every mobs has some noise, pattern way to recognise them. There is no cheap in this game, only the age old video game killer, patience, games have almost none, and this game punishes you for that.

not liking it? again I don't have a problem with it.. but as its pretty much a well liked game, complaining about it with no solid criticism is a bit of a fools path, and you must expect to be laughed at.

I dont like the death system, losing all my hard fought souls, and the fact that the further you progress, just means the harder it is to get to them again in a weakened state. Dislike that, but its how it was designed, makeing it easier would not have fit with the game design as a whole.

 

[Dumac]

Welp, against my better judgement, I dropped $30 on it this weekend to give it a shot.

It's regularly on sale for $6!

Game looks ugly as hell on PC, even with dsfix and mods

I disagree. The texture work in the game is surprisingly good, and it really looks beautiful in 1080p.

Died 15 times at the first Boss, Asylum Demon. Rage quit and uninstalled.

Oh, come on. My girlfriend beat the Asylum Demon on the second try, and that is because she missed the plunge attack the first time. Are you sure it was really 15, or are you exaggerating a bit in your frustration?

I have no desire to try and beat this game. Fight my way through the same old enemies 15 times only to get to the boss and die. Boss fights are stupid and unfair. Controls are clunky as hell. I dodge roll and still get hit.
Not my type of game at all, not rewarding, only tedious and frustrating. Lesson learned.

Boss fights are not stupid or unfair - nothing in Dark Souls is really. The controls are tight and deliberate - what you call clunky is probably just the realistic movement of your character. There are different tiers of dodges based on how much weight your character is wearing. The lighter you are, the better your dodge is.

Think about it. Many people have beaten the entire game at level 1 with no upgraded equipment.

Many people have punched the asylum demon to death with their bare fists and no equipment.

When I started my second and third characters, things that were so hard to me the first time, like the black knights, were now a breeze. I could walk up to a black knight, parry, and then riposte until he died. It wasn't the game that had changed. It was me, my personal skill as a player had improved.

Which is what dark souls is all about. Personal improvement. The game forces you to get better at it as you play.

Or another player can join your game at any time without your consent and kill you. Often at a point when you've made significant progress without reaching the next bonfire (waypoint). Often at a point when you've gathered a ton of souls which you drop and possibly lose forever upon your death.


If these things happened to you and your response is, "This is infuriating and stupid," then you won't like Dark Souls. If these things happened to you and your response is "LOL," then Dark Souls is for you.

They can only invade you if you are not hollow, which is to compensate for the benefit of you being able to summon friendlies.

 

[smackababy]

Oh, come on. My girlfriend beat the Asylum Demon on the second try, and that is because she missed the plunge attack the first time. Are you sure it was really 15, or are you exaggerating a bit in your frustration?

I believe he is talking about the very first encounter, where you only have a broken sword.

They can only invade you if you are not hollow, which is to compensate for the benefit of you being able to summon friendlies.

And there are zero drawbacks to being hollow in Dark Souls, unlike Demon's Souls where you had a maximum of 50% HP.

 

[SlitheryDee]

I bought this game during a sale a while back, but I'm scared to play it because of all the stuff I've heard about it. The one time I played it I made it up to the first big boss and got killed almost immediately. Maybe I got past him eventually, because I remember doing some other stuff after that. The overall look and feel of the game didn't impress me that much, but most of the reason I put it down was the fact that at the time I didn't want to get too deep into a game that was going to end up being highly frustrating.

Lately I've been making a lot of headway in my gaming backlog though, and it's one of the remaining unbeaten games that keeps catching my attention as I look for something to play. Thinking about picking it up for real this time.

I read some reviews on Dark Souls as I was thinking about purchasing it, and most reviewers seemed to think it was one of the best RPGs in the current era of gaming. I'm wondering how that can be when it seems the game is almost entirely devoid of meaningful story, at least according to the parts I've played and what I've read about the game. Hell, the Darksiders games had a better story and FAR better combat and I rarely hear anyone singing their praises like they do for DS. What's the hook that makes this game different than any other mundane dungeon crawler then?

 

[smackababy]

I bought this game during a sale a while back, but I'm scared to play it because of all the stuff I've heard about it. The one time I played it I made it up to the first big boss and got killed almost immediately. Maybe I got past him eventually, because I remember doing some other stuff after that. The overall look and feel of the game didn't impress me that much, but most of the reason I put it down was the fact that at the time I didn't want to get too deep into a game that was going to end up being highly frustrating.

Lately I've been making a lot of headway in my gaming backlog though, and it's one of the remaining unbeaten games that keeps catching my attention as I look for something to play. Thinking about picking it up for real this time.

I read some reviews on Dark Souls as I was thinking about purchasing it, and most reviewers seemed to think it was one of the best RPGs in the current era of gaming. I'm wondering how that can be when it seems the game is almost entirely devoid of meaningful story, at least according to the parts I've played and what I've read about the game. Hell, the Darksiders games had a better story and FAR better combat and I rarely hear anyone singing their praises like they do for DS. What's the hook that makes this game different than any other mundane dungeon crawler then?

The thing with Dark Souls' story is that it is almost entirely up to the player themselves to find it. All the lore and connecting pieces (as well as the ending) is only speculation on player's parts, as the creators only give tidbits of information. As a straight forward RPG, it has pretty much little to offer outside of some design choices. But, if you look deeper (and it takes looking; reading item descriptions, talking to NPCs, etc), you can craft a much larger narrative.

You have to really devote time to trying and finding out exactly what you want to know, which isn't for everyone. Personally, I love that approach. They don't hold you hand or force feed you stuff, just like the game play itself.

 

[Dumac]

The combat is not precise at all. It's incredibly imprecise. It's deliberate i will grant you, but you don't feel like you are able to adjust, you are simply steering your character.

If the combat was incredibly imprecise, it would be impossible to beat the game as a naked level 1 character. Afterall, that is relying on the precision of combat rather than stats and attributes of items or equipment.

I can dodge/block/parry, i can be patient, i am incredibly observational, i'm able to stay calm sometimes under pressure (though i'm getting older and it's less likely to happen because of that--also i call BS, because being completely blindsided by an attack that kills you requires no amount of calm, you're just dead).

If you could do all that, then you would have gotten further and died less. Maybe you aren't improving because you refuse to acknowledge you could improve.

If you were observational, you wouldn't be getting blinded.

Few attacks kill you in one hit. If you remain calm, you can dodge the follow up hit and reposition yourself.

I have done everything you are mentioning, i just don't feel it's worth my time because of the frustration level required to continually do that, and then be humbled 30 seconds after you make progress past a point you previously died. Just not worth the effort involved.

If you were doing all of the above, you wouldn't be dying every additional 30 seconds. The 'hard' way to learn is to die over and over, but the 'easier' way is to use the skills I mentioned above and proactively avoid death.

Ninja Gaiden also had slower and more ponderous weapons, they just felt like they were locked onto your target a lot better. Again, it felt like the game UI helped you to stay on the best target, in DS they do not help you--which is fine, i guess that's the part of the game that everyone enjoys.

You can look onto a target if you want in DS. The game doesn't auto-aim your attacks for you though. If gives you the freedom to strike where you want to strike.

I came into this thread saying that DS sucks? I'll go reread my initial post, but i don't think i uttered that phrase once. I just did not understand why people enjoyed it, not that it sucked...like i've said it's masochistic and cruel, and i don't enjoy the popularity.

The tone of the OP was obvious. Don't be disingenuous. I never said you literally typed 'suck'. I was paraphrasing.

You came here and bashed the game. Why do you think you got the response you did.

If you came and said "Hey guys, I'm not really getting this game. Is there something I'm missing?", the thread would have taken a very different direction.

Finally, i was being realistic. If you don't want me to be realistic, that's too bad, because that's who i am, i am not going to BS you. I could call you just as dramatic since you're inlove with a game and when someone questions it in any way--however valid--you blatantly make up lies (like about me saying it sucked) in order to defend it.

But your supposed criticisms aren't valid, which is what everyone is trying to tell you in this thread. And saying i'm 'in love' and 'blantly making up lies' isn't dramatic?

Edit: I just did CNTRL+F and found usage of the word suck in 3 pages, and the first time it was used, it was by you...as i said, you are a liar. You are tearing down my argument and what i said to suit your argument, and you are wrong. I'm the non adult person? Give me a break.

Again, this isn't dramatic?

Edit 2: Also, of the two of us, you are the one who has included personal attacks in your response, not me. I included statements that may have felt harsh, but they were not directed at you personally.

Last time, not being dramatic with your double edit?

See you again in seven weeks, I guess.

 

[Dumac]

I believe he is talking about the very first encounter, where you only have a broken sword.

Oh, no wonder he is having so much difficulty. I would think it would be obvious that if you only are doing 3 damage per punch, maybe you aren't supposed to fight this giant guy right at this moment.

Isn't there also a sign on the ground telling you to run?

I bought this game during a sale a while back, but I'm scared to play it because of all the stuff I've heard about it. The one time I played it I made it up to the first big boss and got killed almost immediately. Maybe I got past him eventually, because I remember doing some other stuff after that. The overall look and feel of the game didn't impress me that much, but most of the reason I put it down was the fact that at the time I didn't want to get too deep into a game that was going to end up being highly frustrating.

Lately I've been making a lot of headway in my gaming backlog though, and it's one of the remaining unbeaten games that keeps catching my attention as I look for something to play. Thinking about picking it up for real this time.

I read some reviews on Dark Souls as I was thinking about purchasing it, and most reviewers seemed to think it was one of the best RPGs in the current era of gaming. I'm wondering how that can be when it seems the game is almost entirely devoid of meaningful story, at least according to the parts I've played and what I've read about the game. Hell, the Darksiders games had a better story and FAR better combat and I rarely hear anyone singing their praises like they do for DS. What's the hook that makes this game different than any other mundane dungeon crawler then?

Dark Souls really isn't that difficult. I'm not much of a skilled gamer, and I didn't have much trouble with it. The main thing it requires is patience and and open mind.

You are going to die. Dying is how the game teaches you about your mistakes. People get frustrated because they are used to modern games where death is something that occurs very rarely and you can fly through most of the game unchallenged. You have to adapt your mode of thinking abit for Dark Souls, but once you do it is highly rewarding to beat things that you previously couldn't.

As far as story, don't expect something like Mass Effect or the Witcher. The story is very subdued and not told in a traditional, straightforward manner. There is almost no narrative.

It is less of a 'story' and more of 'lore'. You are put into the game and told to ring 2 bells and light a bonfire. If you choose, that is all you have to know. But if you are more interested, you can dive deeper and learn about what the world is, how it works, how it came to be in its current state, and a multitude of other tiny connections that rapidly create a vast web of knowledge and understanding.

 

[artemicion]

They can only invade you if you are not hollow, which is to compensate for the benefit of you being able to summon friendlies.

That's true, I forgot the hollow/non-hollow rule for invasion.

I liked the game a lot but I also agree with the criticism in this thread. The controls are clunky, but they are deliberately clunky in a QWOP sort of way. I can see why some people would think it's stupid that your character swings their weapon at the same angle, even if they are in a narrow hallway and it causes your weapon to clang against the wall (instead of automatically compensating the angle of attack like in many games). IIRC, you can't free-aim certain ranged attacks (crossbows? spells?) which I initially thought was stupid. The jumping mechanics are also very clunky (can't jump while standing still, have to double tap the run button to jump while running).

I can also see the game being stupidly frustrating because it's hard to tell if you're struggling because you suck or if you're going the wrong way (i.e., going in in an area that you're not supposed to be in yet).

If you want to give the game a chance,

Spoiler

I'd recommend consulting a walkthrough to make sure you're tackling all the areas in the easiest order. I'd also recommend consulting a guide to make sure the build that you are making is viable. A lot of character builds are meant for advanced players. Some character builds are flat-out not viable. Finally, look up how to get the Drake Sword.

 

[smackababy]

I don't think clunky means what you think it means. The controls are responsive (except for a queuing bug, but that isn't what you're experiencing). When you press dodge, swing, parry, whatever your character starts that animation right then. That is not clunky in the least bit. Your character might feel clunky because they are weighed down in heavy armor, but you will still roll when told (even if it is pathetically slow). The problem is there is a very small window in which things like parry and roll work. If your timing is even the slightest bit off, you are hit.

Perhaps my years of fighting games and doing 1 frame links in SF have seasoned me to the 7 or 8 frames required to land a parry.

 

[artemicion]

I don't think clunky means what you think it means. The controls are responsive (except for a queuing bug, but that isn't what you're experiencing). When you press dodge, swing, parry, whatever your character starts that animation right then. That is not clunky in the least bit. Your character might feel clunky because they are weighed down in heavy armor, but you will still roll when told (even if it is pathetically slow). The problem is there is a very small window in which things like parry and roll work. If your timing is even the slightest bit off, you are hit.

Perhaps my years of fighting games and doing 1 frame links in SF have seasoned me to the 7 or 8 frames required to land a parry.

Sorry I didn't know you were the owner of the CLUNKY(tm) trademark. I meant to convey exactly what I described in my post and I apologize if my definition of CLUNKY(tm) does not conform to your worldview.