Why Dark Souls is so great

Anyone who has played From Software's 2011 Action/RPG Dark Souls will probably recommend it only to those who take failure lightly. Since the game came out during the Fall of 2011, I wasn't able to play it right away because I was playing other titles that came out around that time, the most notable being Skyrim. Now that I am about halfway through my first playthrough, I am upset with myself for not picking this game up sooner.

The game has a very minimalistic plot, something about how dragons controlled the earth until the Fire of Lords and the human race for an unidentifiable reason. Soon after, four powerful entities (Gravelord Nito, the Witch of Izalith, Gwyn Lord of Sunlight, and the Furtive Pygmy) emerged from a newly kindled flame, harnessed the Souls of Lords to fight and overthrow the dragons.

The game starts with your character sitting in a cell in an undead asylum. The character is undead and begins their quest by taking on objectives like ringing the bells in each bell tower, to eventually fighting the four powerful entities mentioned earlier. You aren't really pointed in any specific direction. There are some areas where enemies are much weaker than in others, but don't be surprised if you end up in an area fighting enemies that will 2-hit you if you aren't careful.

Piece of cake...

The visual styling of the game is breathtaking. The game really shoots for a gothic and romantic ambiance and delivers by creating a dark, gloomy atmosphere. Lighting is perfect, your character is always lit up no matter how dark the area is, and flames provide a small radius of light and cast shadows of objects on the ground or walls. Structures are incredibly detailed and awe inspiring. In many areas, there are winding, narrow staircases and tight, cramped corridors that really add to the gothic lore of the game. Your character is fully customizable and looks great. There are many different armor sets and some of them look really nice and shiny when worn by your character. One thing that really impressed me is how I will be in an area and look out in the distance to see an area that I had been to just minutes before. The area will look a little hazy in the distance, really giving you a sense of progress and encouraging you to keep pushing forward.

The real draw to this game is the gameplay. Never in my life have I played a game so difficult and I have played a lot of difficult games. The game has no set difficulty, but in the beginning you choose a class and some classes are tougher to play than others (I chose the thief because of the back-stab boost and the master key).

Combat is an unreal experience like I have never experienced before. The game requires you to be extremely careful, learn your opponents attack patterns, and strike when you feel the time is right. One screw up and you can find yourself poisoned, cursed, or missing half of your health bar. Spamming attacks is not an option because stamina plays a key role in the game. Attack to much and your stamina will be depleted, leaving you unable to block or dodge. The combat is pretty slow paced, but it is extremely rewarding, especially when you take down a boss that has murdered you over and over again.

You may not believe it, but this boss is extremely easy

RPG elements are on point making this game a fully loaded role playing game. Your character has a variety of different attributes that need to be leveled throughout the game. Weapons and armor can also be leveled and reinforced making them more protective and deadly. There are also a lot of special items that you can attain from defeating bosses or scavenging through the various environments this game has to offer. Of course there is also magic. Spells can be bought off of certain NPCs and upgraded just like weapons and armor. In order to level your character or their spells and gear, you need to have souls. Souls seem to be the main form of currency in the world of Dark Souls. Players are also able to join covenants and each covenant has its different perks and special items that can be purchased.

You use souls to buy items spells, and gear from merchants as well. Souls can be attained from killing enemies and eventually you can feed unwanted items to a monstrous creature in exchange for souls. Be careful with your souls though because if you die, you will lose all of them unless you have a special ring on. The game will allow you to go back to the spot of your last death and retrieve those souls, but if you die in the process, they are gone forever.

Most of the leveling actions can be done at bonfires. Bonfires are safe havens in the game in which your character will regain health and health items which are called estus flasks. You also level up at bonfires and once you have the necessary items, you can manage your inventory, upgrade weapons, manage spells, and restore your characters humanity. When you die, you will respawn back at the last bonfire you rested at, so be sure to rest at each one you see. The only downside to that is, enemies will respawn after you rest at a bonfire unless they are an area boss or mini boss.

A really cool feature is online capabilities of this game. Players will be able to either help or completely troll other players by leaving messages written with the Orange Guidance Soapstone item. Some people will write really helpful messages, while others will write messages that will promise weapons, merchants or bonfires ahead, but will really lead to a tough enemy or a fall that will kill them. Players can also summon other players to their game to help them out with a tough boss battle or an area they can't seem to get through.  

Looks like a nice place for a Summer home

The bottom line is, I fucking love this game. This game does survival horror better than survival horror games. There are moments when I will turn a corner with my shield up, anticipating a surprise attack from a powerful enemy. Areas and enemies are disturbing, sometimes I'll look over to find a pile of rotting dead bodies in a corner or get in a fight with some kind of horrible monstrosity. When I'm in a close call and am about to die, I have never experienced such tenseness as I dodge my enemies attacks and try to gain some space so I can down an estus flask and get back in the fight. After playing this game I am going to play its predecessor Demon Souls, and that's a guarantee. This game is without a doubt amongst my favorite releases of last year, it is just a shame that I got such a late start on it.