Dark Souls became very popular after the release of the PS3 game and predecessor Demon’s Souls. That game first released in - and only in - Japan. Foreign players could import the game, however, since the game came with English subtitles. And they did (I did, too). While the game was criticized for being too hard, eventually it became so wildly popular that they just couldn’t justify *not* releasing this in the West and in the United States. A few years later they released Dark Souls and the rest is history. I never finished Demon’s Souls (not until the remake); I stopped after defeating the Tower Knight, but I was impressed nevertheless. And once Dark Souls finally hit Steam I wanted in on the hype. And what a game it was, and still is. It’s no wonder Dark Souls became an entire genre of its own and also inspired countless other titles all over the world.

Dark Souls is punishing and tough as nails, but it’s always your own mistake if you die. You could’ve played too offensively or too defensively, or you could’ve just made a very poor choice as far as your weapon or item usage is concerned, or maybe rushed in too much. You will die a lot in the beginning, as a novice. A lot of tactics come from watching your enemies attack. Seeing an opening is usually your chance to attack with all you’ve got and then it’s usually wise to defend (and parry) or to dodge. All of your moves will use up stamina, which will automatically refill when you stop defending. You have to balance this bar wisely as you want to use it for both attacking and, usually immediately after that, defending. An attack can take off a huge part of this bar. Fortunately killed enemies will drop souls that can be exchanged for anything you do, but you’ll most likely use it to upgrade your character with extra health (also a good investment as a novice), stamina, magic usage or the ability to do more damage with your weapons. They can also be used for buying weapons and items from vendors and for upgrading weapons at a blacksmith, but you will usually need extra items to be able to do that.
There are many weapons to be found and upgraded, each with their own weaknesses and strengths. Will you choose a weapon that does a lot of damage, but is slow and consumes a lot of stamina, or a fast one so that you can hit a few times before you dodge away? One-handed? Two-handed? Maybe even magic only? The choices are endless. It’s a really diverse game that allows for multiple ways to play it.

Dark Souls plays out like a metroidvania, so the whole world and all - at first - seemingly separate areas are indeed connected to one another. That makes traveling through the world such a joy because there are shortcuts to be found, secrets to be uncovered and optional bosses to be killed. Plus, it has some impressive scenery like cathedrals and villages, even courtyards. Everything has a dark, eerie and gothic feel to it and danger lurks around almost any corner.
The world will be traversed by a character that you can customize when you first start the game. Here you will also be able to choose a class and an item that may prove useful on your quest. Now, you’re never stuck to a specific class; if you’re a knight and want to build your character into a sorcerer then you have that ability. The starting items, however, is a different case. You might find these items during the game, but there are a few items (like the Master Key) that you can only get when you choose that specific class. So you’ll have to make the decision if those items are worth it to you. Note that you’ll be able to finish the game without any of these items; they only might just prove useful.

I didn’t forget about the bonfires. What seems small, even innocent, actually plays a big part throughout the entire game. Bonfires can be a safe haven during the - literally and figuratively - darkest moments. They allow you to refill your flasks (think of these as health potions), upgrade your character by investing souls you’ve acquired or to simply mark the area as a checkpoint. Meaning that if you die you’ll respawn from this bonfire and you’ve activated a different one. Only, whenever you activate a bonfire all of the defeated enemies, with the exception of mini-bosses and actual bosses, respawn as well. Now, sometimes you won’t have a choice; your flasks and health are running low and you just want a bit of extra security before you proceed. Or maybe you just want to level up. But maybe you just want to collect more souls, or to find out the best way to defeat an enemy. So it can be used both offensively and defensively in a way. It’s a surprisingly deep game for sure.

Almost all of the bosses are amazing to fight. There are a few that are exceptionally easy to dispose of, but the majority of the times you’ll have to carefully look at their attack patterns and decide when and where you’re going to attack. Weapons, weight, enemy weakness(es) and skill all have to be taken into account. Killing a boss usually takes you several tries, especially when you’re a starter. There are even times when you’ll be fighting more than one enemy at a time. Persevere, though, and you’ll get the job done eventually. And if not then there are items that can help you summon NPCs (who fight adequately) or actual (sometimes incredibly skilled or powerful) real life humans. NPCs can’t always be summoned, however, and sometimes only even after finishing a (side)quest, but these can always be summoned near boss fights. Real life people can be summoned everywhere, provided you are human in-game, and they’ll disappear once you or a boss has been defeated. Same goes for the NPCs. If you die you have to consume an item again to become human once more, after which you can start summoning again.

Lore is also one of the areas in which Dark Souls excels. With the exception of a beginning and ending cutscene all of the story is told with items and, in a way, the environments and bosses. Find an item, check it in your inventory and a small piece of a textual backstory may unfold. Usually the text doesn’t make sense. At least not for a while or until you’ve played through the game several times, collecting every time you can find. A deeper (back)story is told, just not in passive way, but one where you actually have to actively search for one. I enjoyed finding things and also reading up on them on the Internet. The game has some wonderful and even sad moments to tell. All you have to do is search for them. A satisfying way to tell a (back)story.

Graphically the game oozes with atmosphere. The world is meticulously and skillfully created. The enemies, characters and boss fights are all amazingly animated and created. With lots of detail and care.
And the same goes for the dark and moody soundtrack and the sound effects. Nothing stands out as being weird and feeling out of place. The voice acting, even the little there is, feels and sometimes is ominous, but sincere. Simply marvelous.
During my time with it I’ve encountered one big where I’ve never obtained the flask. Restarting the game from scratch fixes the issue. Other than that I encountered no other bugs or issues.

Dark Souls is hands down one of the very best games to ever be released. It’s one of my absolute favorite games of all time. What takes a more skilled gamer 30 hours (not even if you’re speedrunning) to complete it took me 65 hours. I’ve died countless times. I’ve made a lot of mistakes. But I’ve learned a lot as well. And I’ve loved every minute of it. It might not be for anyone or everyone, but there’s no denying that this is one of the greatest games ever. Give it a try and give it your all and maybe some day you’ll see the light. Praise the sun! (Sorry, I just had to)

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Dark Souls became very popular after the release of the PS3 game and predecessor Demon’s Souls. That game first released in - and only in - Japan. Foreign players could import the game, however, since the game came with English subtitles. And they did (I did, too). While the game was criticized for being too hard, eventually it became so wildly popular that they just couldn’t justify *not* releasing this in the West and in the United States. A few years later they released Dark Souls and the rest is history. I never finished Demon’s Souls (not until the remake); I stopped after defeating the Tower Knight, but I was impressed nevertheless. And once Dark Souls finally hit Steam I wanted in on the hype. And what a game it was, and still is. It’s no wonder Dark Souls became an entire genre of its own and also inspired countless other titles all over the world. Dark Souls is punishing and tough as nails, but it’s always your own mistake if you die. You could’ve played too offensively or too defensively, or you could’ve just made a very poor choice as far as your weapon or item usage is concerned, or maybe rushed in too much. You will die a lot in the beginning, as a novice. A lot of tactics come from watching your enemies attack. Seeing an opening is usually your chance to attack with all you’ve got and then it’s usually wise to defend (and parry) or to dodge. All of your moves will use up stamina, which will automatically refill when you stop defending. You have to balance this bar wisely as you want to use it for both attacking and, usually immediately after that, defending. An attack can take off a huge part of this bar. Fortunately killed enemies will drop souls that can be exchanged for anything you do, but you’ll most likely use it to upgrade your character with extra health (also a good investment as a novice), stamina, magic usage or the ability to do more damage with your weapons. They can also be used for buying weapons and items from vendors and for upgrading weapons at a blacksmith, but you will usually need extra items to be able to do that. There are many weapons to be found and upgraded, each with their own weaknesses and strengths. Will you choose a weapon that does a lot of damage, but is slow and consumes a lot of stamina, or a fast one so that you can hit a few times before you dodge away? One-handed? Two-handed? Maybe even magic only? The choices are endless. It’s a really diverse game that allows for multiple ways to play it. Dark Souls plays out like a metroidvania, so the whole world and all - at first - seemingly separate areas are indeed connected to one another. That makes traveling through the world such a joy because there are shortcuts to be found, secrets to be uncovered and optional bosses to be killed. Plus, it has some impressive scenery like cathedrals and villages, even courtyards. Everything has a dark, eerie and gothic feel to it and danger lurks around almost any corner. The world will be traversed by a character that you can customize when you first start the game. Here you will also be able to choose a class and an item that may prove useful on your quest. Now, you’re never stuck to a specific class; if you’re a knight and want to build your character into a sorcerer then you have that ability. The starting items, however, is a different case. You might find these items during the game, but there are a few items (like the Master Key) that you can only get when you choose that specific class. So you’ll have to make the decision if those items are worth it to you. Note that you’ll be able to finish the game without any of these items; they only might just prove useful. I didn’t forget about the bonfires. What seems small, even innocent, actually plays a big part throughout the entire game. Bonfires can be a safe haven during the - literally and figuratively - darkest moments. They allow you to refill your flasks (think of these as health potions), upgrade your character by investing souls you’ve acquired or to simply mark the area as a checkpoint. Meaning that if you die you’ll respawn from this bonfire and you’ve activated a different one. Only, whenever you activate a bonfire all of the defeated enemies, with the exception of mini-bosses and actual bosses, respawn as well. Now, sometimes you won’t have a choice; your flasks and health are running low and you just want a bit of extra security before you proceed. Or maybe you just want to level up. But maybe you just want to collect more souls, or to find out the best way to defeat an enemy. So it can be used both offensively and defensively in a way. It’s a surprisingly deep game for sure. Almost all of the bosses are amazing to fight. There are a few that are exceptionally easy to dispose of, but the majority of the times you’ll have to carefully look at their attack patterns and decide when and where you’re going to attack. Weapons, weight, enemy weakness(es) and skill all have to be taken into account. Killing a boss usually takes you several tries, especially when you’re a starter. There are even times when you’ll be fighting more than one enemy at a time. Persevere, though, and you’ll get the job done eventually. And if not then there are items that can help you summon NPCs (who fight adequately) or actual (sometimes incredibly skilled or powerful) real life humans. NPCs can’t always be summoned, however, and sometimes only even after finishing a (side)quest, but these can always be summoned near boss fights. Real life people can be summoned everywhere, provided you are human in-game, and they’ll disappear once you or a boss has been defeated. Same goes for the NPCs. If you die you have to consume an item again to become human once more, after which you can start summoning again. Lore is also one of the areas in which Dark Souls excels. With the exception of a beginning and ending cutscene all of the story is told with items and, in a way, the environments and bosses. Find an item, check it in your inventory and a small piece of a textual backstory may unfold. Usually the text doesn’t make sense. At least not for a while or until you’ve played through the game several times, collecting every time you can find. A deeper (back)story is told, just not in passive way, but one where you actually have to actively search for one. I enjoyed finding things and also reading up on them on the Internet. The game has some wonderful and even sad moments to tell. All you have to do is search for them. A satisfying way to tell a (back)story. Graphically the game oozes with atmosphere. The world is meticulously and skillfully created. The enemies, characters and boss fights are all amazingly animated and created. With lots of detail and care. And the same goes for the dark and moody soundtrack and the sound effects. Nothing stands out as being weird and feeling out of place. The voice acting, even the little there is, feels and sometimes is ominous, but sincere. Simply marvelous. During my time with it I’ve encountered one big where I’ve never obtained the flask. Restarting the game from scratch fixes the issue. Other than that I encountered no other bugs or issues. Dark Souls is hands down one of the very best games to ever be released. It’s one of my absolute favorite games of all time. What takes a more skilled gamer 30 hours (not even if you’re speedrunning) to complete it took me 65 hours. I’ve died countless times. I’ve made a lot of mistakes. But I’ve learned a lot as well. And I’ve loved every minute of it. It might not be for anyone or everyone, but there’s no denying that this is one of the greatest games ever. Give it a try and give it your all and maybe some day you’ll see the light. Praise the sun! (Sorry, I just had to) [quote]If you enjoyed this review please consider following me: [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/41144728-markdj/]curator page[/url] [/quote]