Dark Souls is a neat, die-hard and time-consuming game – aside from its predecessor the only one of its kind. This game is not for everyone – that's not a flaw, but a virtue.
Dark Souls is a game for many hours and one of the most intriguing journeys this year. But unlike most games, it's not a trip to a lovely holiday resort where all your whishes come true. On the contrary - From Software's game doesn't want for you to get to know it. But after some hard work and battling all the odds you get to the end. And then you know: it's an experience that will stay in your memory for a long time.
I believe that this is my favorite game of all time even out of all the souls-likes and great RPGs we have had. I am certainly not the only one to think that but I think people have forgotten what made this one stand out.
The story is really vague but in a good way that is open to interpretation but has clear metaphors, themes, characters and their arcs and lore to be found from just the visuals and items. Every game mechanic has a meaningful connection to both the story and the gameplay. Every enemy and armor set and character have a meaning and a story to be told that you might not catch on until you have read the lore online. There are a lot of secrets actually, but they all encourage players to be social and help each other on this journey. Since as we all know, Dark Souls is a hard game. I don’t think any other game in the franchise has this amount of originality and good writing combined with the world to use the entire game to tell it’s story effectively. Like who even got the idea for Estus being bottled fire that heals the undead because they are linked to the flame. This is just genius.
There are a lot of criticisms about 3 things that I disagree with.
1. The game is too slow.
I don’t think it’s a negative for a game to be slow because it can cause combat to be the fastest strategy game or the slowest action game and player reaction times aren’t required to beat the game. Rather the knowledge and confidence of the player determines the outcome.
2. The second half is bad.
No it isn’t bad. Every single area and boss add to the story, lore, atmosphere and most importantly challenges the mechanics of the game in significant ways. Like the 4 kings who require you to master their move set and deal enough damage in a short amount of time before another one spawns. Every area is the same. You need to adapt and find new ways to succeed. Once you beat Ornstein and Smough you are so good at the game that just upping the damage and ho while you get stronger would make the game tedious. Also giving fast travel is a good thing since the map is way too big and it would also just be tedious to go through again. Giving fast travel is more like a reward. I could talk about each area in detail why I like them but I’ll spare you since I know a lot of people will disagree with me no matter what I say.
3. Bosses are bad.
There are some legendary boss fights like Sif, Artorias, O&S and so many more. When you have that many good ones the worse ones stand out. I don’t think reusing the Asylum Demon is that bad because it makes sense in the world and the boss isn’t bad. It is just a nice call back with a little extra challenge to keep things spicy. Bed of Chaos should have a bonfire just outside the arena since you are expected to die there a couple of times but even that boss tests how well can you move and dodge attacks and you eventually get good at that boss. I can do it in one try nowadays. Moonlight butterfly and other enemies like that test you for your ability to use the arena and defend yourself from a constant fire of attacks and managing damage as effectively as possible. It is still good design and tests your abilities before the harder bosses and areas as preparation.
Also the atmosphere and world design has not been topped since this game. Like the 3D metroidvania feel is unmatched and areas like the Ash lake or Dukes Archives live rent free in my mind. I can never forget them and only Elden Ring has come close to this sense of awe that this first game has. But in Elden Ring everything is so trivialized that you never feel like danger is in the corner but in this game you will always get yourself surprised and killed for weird hazards and things that it actually feels like a true adventure.
I also just love the enemy and boss designs and character designs. They feel so original but unlike other fromsoft titles they never have that one theme. They always change from area to area making each one more memorable. Elden Ring again did this well but that game had some terrible names for some of those characters.
I could tell you more but this game just means so much to me. Everything about this game is so great. It is one of the most influential games that has stood the test of time as one of the best games of all time.
On a deeper level, Dark Souls' audacity at shoving you into an adventure, giving you a colossal world to explore, and forcing you to earn every speck of progress is downright exhilarating.
I expect Dark Souls will sell more copies than its predecessor, but I'm sure many won't know what to make of this curious title. It harkens back to the days when our parents bought us a game and we played it all summer.
Dark Souls is a epic adventure-RPG for hardcore gamers. This game is hard, sometimes a little bit frustrating. But, when you do make it and kill a boss it gives you such satisfaction that no other game can give you. With some fantastic online options, atmospheric worlds, haunting game concepts and mechanics and an unconventional control scheme, Dark Souls is a little jewel.
Extreme difficulty, online interaction and totally absorbing atmosphere – you will hate and love Dark Souls to death but you will not be able to quit...for a very long time. [Nov 2011]
My favourite game ever. Perfectly challenging and captivating, especially if you're happy to delve into best builds. The game doesn't offer help on this front, which is where the online community shines. Online play is fantastic.
Out of all three Dark Souls games, the original is the worst. It has the worst game design, worst mechanics, worst bosses and is by far the most tedious. Having said that, it is still a good game worth your time.
This game is brutal, and it doesn't always feel fair.
On the positive side, the lore of this game is gorgeous, and the interconnect map is awe-inspiring. On the negative side, DS1 is less polished and evenly-paced than its 2 sequels, and the design in certain areas is sometimes questionable.
This game is 100x harder playing offline without a guide, and that's how I did it during my first run. Don't do this. Just play online. You get so many hints playing online.
Many parts of this game are masochistically difficult but very rewarding once you figure them out. Enemies and environmental objects are specifically placed to cause maximal frustration. You can spend 5 minutes to reach a certain point, dodging dozens of attacks, only to die from a random giant pendulum that pops out of nowhere. You then reattempt it 20 more times, dying in the same spot every time. By the time you finally get past it a frustrating hour later, you only venture another minute further before some minion skeleton jumps out of nowhere and pushes you off a cliff. There is little consistency to figuring out the location of hidden walls, so you can spend an eternity wasting time swinging at every wall.
If you want bleak and brutal, but fair, go play Dark Souls 3 or Hollow Knight. Save points/bonfires in DS 1 are extremely spread out. Everything in the world, especially the environment, wants to cheese you and can single-handedly do so on your first encounter with it. There's no teleportation between bonfires for most of the game. Many bosses are cheesy. Just stay away this game unless you're a masochist like me.
Though after you've finally beaten it, it'll feel like you've spent an eternity living in its bleak, depressing world. You'll realize that you've become part of it, and it just won't let you go. You'll choose to linger around as a soulless Blade of the Darkmoon, punishing others who are just starting their journey ... others who are just like who you once were.
Absolutely horrendous frame rate. Some areas are borderline unplayable. Such a disgrace coming from the spiritual successor of Demons Souls. Not sure how this game is rated so high
SummaryProject Dark (Working Title) is a brand new dark fantasy RPG designed to completely embrace the concepts of tension in dungeon exploration, fear in encountering enemies, the joy of new discoveries, and a high sense of achievement in progressing. The game is set in a dark fantasy world filled with decadent atmosphere, with a heavy emphasi...