Dark Souls

This review is spoiler-free!

This game isn't made for the masses, that much is certain. Although its marketing and public identity revolves around its difficulty, there's so much more to this experience than you could ever grasp without playing it for yourself. Difficulty is there pretty much just as a key storytelling device, and it's put to good use, too.

Dark Souls is mysterious, lonely, atmospheric, interconnected and difficult. That's how I'd sum it up in one sentence.

The few friendly encounters with NPC's will quickly imbed themselves in your memory. Names such as Siegmeyer and Lautrec give me goosebumps every time I speak them, simply because of how masterful the storytelling and character archs are in this game. Each of them are only given around 15/20 minutes of screen time, total. But the whole world around you and them help tell their stories in ways no movie could ever do.

Places like Darkroot Garden, Anor Londo, Firelink Shrine and Ash Lake (and practically everywhere else, too) will stay with me forever, as their individually unique and unmatched atmosphere, mystery, and lore is proof video games is an art form.

The music, aaah! There's FOUR places where music is played, apart from during boss fights. Four. It's nothing, I know! Other games have music playing through every tiny battle and inside every single tavern, but Dark Souls spends it sparingly, thus making it feel that much more impactful.

Dark Souls is such a fantastic metaphor for depression and loneliness. It doesn't welcome you with open arms in the form of a super easy tutorial, helpful ways of learning its mechanics or hour-long cutscenes explaining what you're even supposed to do. You best it as best you can, as is with the real world around us. The people and characters you share your place in the world with travel about, trying their best at carving out a meaning of it all, same as yourself.

Dark Souls is just so damn good, and there's no way of understanding it without actually playing it for yourself, and finding the many fantastically written storylines and lore within it.

This is a truly inspired game, it brings a breath of fresh air into a stale market and gives us something truly wonderful.

From start to finish it is simply riveting and it's challenging combat has you between fits of rage and despair to an ecstatic state of joy that no video game has done before (even it's predecessor Demon's Souls). The story, although perhaps not the most obvious nor linear is amazing if you can be bothered to look into it, and that is another point about the game, it requires your unwavering attention. If you play this game with the right mindset, it can be truly breathtaking.

And to people who say that it is 'overrated' or has 'artificial difficulty' all I can simply say is, you just went full retard.

I was not sure that I would like this game very much, because of its reputation for being extremely difficult. But I decided to go ahead and buy it anyway. I am so glad that I did! The game starts by vaguely introducing you to the world of Dark Souls, and does a very good job at setting the mood for the game. As you move your character around, you get a feel that the whole world is gloomy and in despair. The world and the graphics by the way are beautiful. I'll admit that they are not the best I've ever seen in gaming, but they are still stunning. There are many "Wow, that's crazy!" moments in this game. The difficulty: If you are even looking into buying Dark Souls, you probably already know that it is difficult. However I think the difficulty is one of the games strengths. It almost makes the game. At first, you will feel like "Why is this so hard?!! Did they seriously have to put that guy there?!" But after a while, you almost get used to dying. And there is nothing like getting killed by a hidden enemy, then going back after re-spawning and knowing exactly where he and everything else is. The combat is at first a bit hard to grasp, as there is no real tutorial, but as you learn, it becomes pretty routine and comfortable. This game is very fun, brutally difficult, and rewarding if you stick to it. Don't give up!

Ah, Dark Souls. In case you couldn't tell from the introductory line, I have a history with this game. If my memory serves me well, it was the first more "adult" game I ever bought with my own money at the age of about 14, solely because I'd heard it was very hard and I was a big boy now, I decided.

And my god was it.

But I persevered, admittedly with the help of some guides and such, and eventually, I did it. I walked away from that game feeling like a total boss, but also with the revelation that games really could be as valid of an artistic experience as any other. I think every gamer has that one game that triggered that realization in them, and this was most definitely mine. At the time, it was the single best game I had ever played.

And I don't think it quiiiiiiite holds that title for me today, but revisiting it today, I still think it's utterly amazing, and one of the best examples in gaming history of level design, storytelling, and world building.

First of all, you've all heard that this game is quite hard. Well, yes, it is, but I think the bigger thing that turns people off is not so much the difficulty as it is the learning curve. It is very steep, but at no point is it bad design. Nearly everything required to beat the game (leveling up, upgrading weapons, etc) is explained to you, but from there, it's all up to you. Yes, it's undoubtedly harsh, and you will get lost and confused early on, but it creates the hostile atmosphere that permeates the whole game, and there's no way the game would have been anywhere near as memorable without it.

Once you get past the steep learning curve, you'll realise that the art and level design is nothing short of breathtaking, with every area having its own unique identity, interesting lore, and often epic bosses. Much of the world is interconnected, and areas loop back in on themselves and others, which truly gives the feeling of a cohesive world better than any other game I know. The one sore spot in the areas is the Demon Ruins/Lost Izalith, which feels quite rushed, but other than that, every area is beautifully designed.

The few NPC's you'll come across are all entertaining, often adding some light-heartedness to the bleak atmosphere, and enemy and boss designs are mostly fantastic. Some bosses are okay, a few are frankly terrible, but all of them are at least memorable, and fun to fight and ultimately conquer.

And the lore...oh, sweet lord the lore. If you're willing to dig deep into item descriptions and listen to what NPC's have to tell you, you'll find one of the most engrossing fantasy worlds ever made waiting for you. It's a world that feels like such a remnant of what it once was, but never does that make it uninteresting. It manages to find a way of telling a story that mostly all happened before you came along that doesn't make you feel like you'd rather be participating in that story instead.

Most of the game's few flaws are in its gameplay, and at this point I should mention that these days, the game's multiplayer is pretty much dead, so I don't really see any point in talking about that. The combat and RPG elements are amazing for the most part, but the upgrading system can occasionally feel a little janky, the covenant system is a bit hit-and-miss, the UI could have been a lot better, Resistance is a stat you should just never, ever, ever, ever waste your souls on leveling up, and, although it's probably inevitable in an RPG as complex as this, there'll always be that occasional underpowered weapon or spell.

But really, for that small amount of flaws I could mention, none of them are worth not experiencing this amazing world for yourself, because I could gush about how much I love this game and how much of an impact it had on my view of video games overall for hours, but you should just play it for yourself if you somehow still haven't. You will die, you will get lost and confused, but if you can power through that, you'll see why it was all worth it.

I freakin' love this game.

It is certainly a factor in my opinion of Dark Souls that I'm not the type of person who easily gets angry at games. If you are easily frustrated or simply not willing to put in the attention this game deserves, just stop playing. This game has flaws, yes, but they are not the ones pointed out by so many of the negative reviews. THOSE flaws are non-existent and these people just quit the game before they even saw any real issues. It is perfectly fine to admit you are simply not compatible with this game, it is not fine to fault the game for this. Dark Souls is enchanting, it has kept my mind captive from the moment I picked it up. It is difficult but there are only a few specific moments I consider unfair. Blighttown's framerate has been fixed in the remaster and it honestly is not the hell I was led to believe, that had me full of dread as I descended through dark root. The world excites my curiosity and has me digging for information as desperately as a heroin addict, the combat is methodical, frantic, and tense and above all else no other game has matched the sense of wonder and accomplishment Dark Souls has given me. I pity the millions who will never play this game. I pity how they could never know how empty life is until Dark Souls comes along.