"You see, I resisted Dark Souls partly because people kept telling me, 'It's good once you're used to it' and I've always held that the same thing can be said about being boiled alive, so I'd ask them to explain why it's good and they'd reply, 'Ooh, we can't tell you. You'll just have to find out for yourself.' And then I'd say, 'Shut up or **** off, ideally both, in either order!' But then after watching a decent Let's Play of the game, gone over the wiki a few times and a six week preparation with a team of advisors and physical trainers, I was able to break through the wall. And I suppose that's the first failing of Dark Souls; that you need the ****ing Cliff's Notes to get into it." -Yahtzee Croshaw
I remember this ZP review making its appearance shortly after I started my foray into the universe of "Dark Souls", and could only nod my head after all was said and done and say "Yeah, pretty much". It was a difficult endeavor at the beginning, dying to the Asylum Demon at least 5 times my first play-through, only being killed more often by the sign on the ground that says "Try jumping" (You'd figure I would have learned the first 20 times). However, I found myself really getting into the swing of things after defeating Capra (Which, by "defeating" I mean I summoned some goons to fight him for me, while I sat back and sipped on some Estus).
This wasn't my first FromSoft adventure, however: I played some of the "King's Field" games, along with the more obscure title "Eternal Ring" (Kind of a spiritual successor to King's Field), and of course "Demon's Souls". One thing all of these games had in common was that they were extremely hard for me to get into, and I inevitably lost interest in all of them (Except Eternal Ring, oddly enough). Demon's Souls was probably the one I lost interest in the fastest though, and I'm not too sure why, because it plays almost exactly like Dark Souls. It is a little rough around the edges though (The hit detection is definitely inferior to its successor). Playing Dark Souls, and going back to try the other almost felt like I was playing a Dark Souls Beta (Maybe even Alpha).
So two years after "Demon's..." we get "Dark..." and playing both in 2014 I found that I was a little late to the party, mainly because everyone else was lined up at the "Dark...2" party waiting to get in. However, this wasn't all bad as playing the two so close together, the first was fresh in my mind for me to compare the second to. While DS had some relatively unique and interesting ideas, they weren’t really implemented as well as they were in DKS. A great example of this is the whole philosophy surrounding both games that actions have consequences and because the game autosaves every few seconds, you have to live with whatever you’ve done, including accidentally stabbing a relatively important NPC, because you had to set your controller down, because there are things outside of the game that require your immediate attention! The atrocious sin that DS commits in this instant is that said NPC will never forgive you, and you either have to kill them or avoid them the rest of the game. Dark Souls at least has a system where you can atone for your transgressions (Plus, it takes a few hits to piss off most NPCs).
If you can’t tell by now that I don’t like DS that much after 3 paragraphs of me totally railing on it, then I’ll just come right out and say it: “I don’t like Demon’s Souls that much”. I will say that it’s a damned good thing that I didn’t judge DKS off of my experience with its predecessor, because DKS is a whole lot better…but it’s still not without its warts which I will outline up front, I know that there are those who oppose the idea that there’s anything wrong with this game and that’s fine, we’re all entitled to our own opinions.
My first major beef with this game is outlined at the end of the quote from Mr. Croshaw. It’s the fact that playing the game requires you to consult a lot of outside resources in order to actually “break through the wall.”, and this is the major failing point of the game. It’s one that, no matter how much I enjoy this game, is a complete drag. Granted, I did watch the LPDarkSoulsHD expert walkthrough before playing, but I have to wonder how I would have known about the illusory wall leading to The Great Hollow without it? Or maybe how I’m supposed to know about the special ring that I need to fight the Four Kings? Sure, maybe the first example isn’t paramount to the main game, but it is a significant chunk (2 areas!) of extra content!
Another big one is the ramped up difficulty during the Capra Demon fight. I would consider this game very fair, and well balanced as a whole…except during this fight. The argument that it’s easier with help falls by the wayside when you consider that there are people who cannot play online (Or won’t for whatever reason), and ultimately are forced to solo it! Let’s go over what happens in this fight: You enter the fog gate and are immediately accosted by the demon, you successfully roll out of the way and make tracks for the steps only to be attacked by his two dogs, stunning you while he delivers a deadly blow, all in one of the most confined spaces in the game. Yes, this boss is optional, but I’m wondering why in a fairly well balanced game we see something like this so early on? None of the other bosses are this bad (Everyone talks about BoC being pretty bad too, but I didn’t have a lot of trouble with her). Also, lag in Blighttown and Lost Izalith…’nuff said.
Now that I’m done making mountains out of molehills, I’ll go ahead and talk about all of the good stuff. If one were to stop reading at this point, one may make the mistake that I’m some sort of Anti-Souls Nazi who spends every waking moment berating the game, and they could not be more wrong! I LOVE this game! I’ve spent the last 2 weeks playing it with every minute of free time available to me. I’m about 4 trophies shy of platinum (This will be my first plat.). I haven’t done a good job of making this game seem appealing, so why do I honestly think it’s so great? I could answer that by simply saying: “All of my favorites have their warts”, but I’d like to think I’m not so lazy; seeing as I’ve devoted so much vitriol thus far, it would feel wrong.
I’m going to go ahead and give From a gold star for not making a western inspired fantasy game that’s completely derivative of Lord of the Rings. It’s really quite annoying to see the same creatures and humanoids from that franchise and nothing but in every single fantasy property, when humans as a species have a rich back-catalogue of mythological demons, monsters, and humanoids. I’ve played games in the past which draw from pretty obscure mythologies (Dark Wizard being one), but From takes things a step further. Most of what From puts in the game is unique to the game’s world; like the crow-headed harpies, or the formless hollow monsters which make up “The Phalanx”, or how about the dragon/human hybrid lurking at the end of the painted world? And those are just a few examples from one area of the game! There’s definitely no shortage of variety as well as creativity in this one.
Something that’s often hyped up when DKS is the topic of discussion is the difficulty, and this is something that I think is slightly overhyped. It is challenging compared to the standards set by many modern-days Action/RPG’s, but that’s not saying a lot. A game can only be so difficult while still remaining balanced, and by “balanced” I mean that the enemy’s ratio of advantage to disadvantage is equal to yours. So, to clarify my point, the Asylum Demon may be significantly slower than you, but he also has more health and attack power which means that IF he hits you twice, he’ll kill you where as you have to hit him x amount times more to kill him. I wouldn’t call the game hard so much as I would well balanced, which is better than being difficult (Except for the Capra Demon, **** that guy).
While you’re on your way to whatever foul demon you may be slaying next, be sure to take in the sights. The game isn’t what I would call a “graphical powerhouse”, but it does have some gorgeous scenery. However, what you’re looking at isn’t just backdrop eye-candy; these are actually places that you will be visiting! This is what’s really cool about playing, is that you can see an old abandoned ruin off in the distance and either: a. reminisce about the time you spent there, or; b. know that at some point in your adventures, you’ll be going there. And that’s the thing, there’s this kind of Metroid-y open-world type thing going on. Everything is linked together with certain gates that can only be unlocked if you reach certain areas, and after a while when you come to a gate that “does not open from this side”, you know that eventually you’ll reach the other side of that gate and link another part of the world to the rest.
I know this review is a little bit late in coming, but there are still people out there who haven’t played any of the “…Souls” games, and yet many others who’re just now finding out what the hype is about. So if you’re one who has yet to play, you’re doing yourself a disservice by not at least trying it (It’s like 15 bucks now). Like with any game there will be some who love it, some who hate, and some who think it’s just okay; but one thing that is guaranteed is you will never experience anything like it. Be careful out there. We wouldn’t want to see you go hollow.
Addendum: Perhaps I’ll give Demon’s Souls another chance at some point; right now I’m waiting for my copy of Dark Souls II, though which definitely takes priority.
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