Dark Souls is a hardcore game. Well, that’s what I’ve been told anyway – by you lot, in the comments of last week’s WeView. We asked you to give a little slice of opinion, as per usual, and you all delivered with lots of great mini-reviews of Dark Souls.
Opinion of Dark Souls seemed to be unanimously positive, with wolf-OF-chaos going against the grain and stating that it wasn’t actually that hard if you played it right, an opinion which he shared with Moshbag. However, yogh_wayne summed the difficulty up very nicely – stating that “When you die, you know why you died and how you could’ve avoided it.”, comparing the game to playing the same section of a platformer over and over, which is something we often do without complaining. So, as yogh_wayne states, “…the game might still be hard, but it’s never unfair.”
A great point to make, difficulty is of course subjective and while it might be a challenge, it’s really how you tackle the game that makes all the difference.
Anyway, enough about that – we can’t review a game based on one aspect alone. And there we have it, a nice bridge to The Lone Steven‘s view of the game, where he praised the way that the game “…doesn’t tell its story the traditional way,” leaving it up to you to interpret it. He also loved the unique multiplayer system, in which other players appear in your world as phantoms to aid you on your quest.
fs stated that “No game will give you greater satisfaction upon completion.” which is a very fair point, going on to say whilst it might not be everybody’s cup of tea, if you stick with it you’ll feel immensely satisfied. Whilst An-dz adored the atmosphere, with “…the fear of death causing you to slowly approach every area, taking in every little detail…”, going on to describe the game as “…rich in its lore…”
Taking up the mantle of describing the gameplay itself was, Origami Killer describing them as “perfect” due to the lock on system working well, the strategic dodging, blocking and learning of enemies’ attacks. Speaking of enemies, Origami Killer also states that the game features a good variety “…from the small undead rat to a flying gargoyle that attacks you with a lightning sword.”
Dom El found some flaws in Dark Souls’ gameplay, “…weapons and combat never carry the sense of weight that they should have, and movement is indefinite when it needs to be accurate.”, going on to sum it up with “[the game] can only be enjoyed however if you’re willing to see past the mechanical failings of the game engine.”
However, MadBoJangles disagreed somewhat, with a lovely little paragraph – “Amazing, daunting, rewarding, unforgiving and yet never unfair – this game will have your emotions range from utter despair to sheer jubilation. Not everyone’s cup of tea, the sheer difficulty will put a lot of people off. For those that persevere, they are in for a gaming treat.”
There were a lot of great, in-depth comments about Dark Souls this week, but one that stood out for me was online4ntagonist‘s brilliant one-liner – “Prepare to buy.”
And that’s exactly what I’m doing right now.
This week’s concluding comment was actually the first comment to be posted, and seems oddly poetic. It comes from parryman and really had to be used:
Buy it.
I did.
I died.
A lot.
I put it away and tried to forget it.
I remembered it and thought “it can’t have been that hard”
It was.
Dark Souls seems to be a hit amongst the community, then, with seventeen of you voting for a Buy It and the four other votes being Rent It. No avoiding or bargain bins here, then, so it’s definitely worth a look if you’re a fan of RPGs, you can take our word for it.
Origami Killer
Cheers for the mention! A brilliant game and get Demons Souls while your at it!
PoorPaddy89
It looks awesome, but sadly I don’t like hard games that are hard almost for the sake of it. I like playing games that are hard on harder difficulties, but repetitive dying on the first playthrough ruins immersion for me.
matthangzhou
Forgot to review. Unlike demons souls you die a lot but sometimes it is unfair. Clipping through walls was a particular annoying feature. You had to block in case a spear came through. Still an amazing game. Loveit.
gideon1451
Urgh, hated that boss.
Such a brilliant game though, I found it much more accessible than Demon’s Souls.
wolf-OF-chaos
Been playing Dark soul for the past week and i’m still haven’t got board yet. Does anyone else plan out what they hope to achieve in the session? I do and don’t stop until i have completed the objectives i set out for.
Origami Killer
I try but never achieve my goal! :(
The Lone Steven
Cheers for the mention Kris. :) You will find yourselve making very dumb mistakes even at a high level due to fatigue or just wanting to get to the next bonfire as quickly as you can to avoid being invaded if you are human and have a lot of souls etc.. I jumped off a cliff the other day because i think i was having a mini rage due to the tomb of the giants. Nearly got killed by the undead near firelink shrine and i was a level 70. I think, may have been the burg. I’m sure every TSA Dark Souls player have made a stupid mistake at one point that has cost them their souls. And it’s not the hardest game this generation if you know what you are doing and not trying to hack everything to death as that will just get you killed. Except for doing that to Pinwheel as he is a pathetic boss. Oh and i forgot to mention the soundtrack is excellent. It surpasses Final Fantasy’s soundtracks as each song reflects the boss as well as some laughing at you. Gits.
If you are dying a lot, take a look at your stats and weapons. See what your current strategy is and if that is effective or not then either figure out a way to kill the enemy in your way or come back to the area at later date. For example, i plan to do the tomb of the giants when i’m level 80+ so have a better chance of surviving. Oh and Dark Souls can be a bit cheap sometimes. :( But it is worth getting it if you are a massive RPG fan. :) And there is an offical TSA thread in Gaming Banter dedicated to Dark Souls. Now PRAISE THE SUN! DO IT!
wolf-OF-chaos
I have had lots of FUCK YOU moments, silly little mistakes that have cost me 20k souls and 10 humanity. Ds has a fantastic sound track (moonlight butterfly being my fav) i have it as my ringtone.
Blair Inglis
mynameisntkris
The Lone Steven
But it is Mynameisgettingwastedandeatingfastfoodthenwatchingbreakingbadthendrinkingirnbru. ;)
@wolf. An undead near the firelinkshrine caused me to fall to me death yesterday. :S Also, the centipeded demon killled me just when it had 1 bar left. And managed to kill me in one hit despite me having a lot of health left. O-o
MadBoJangles
I really should go back to this.
I stopped playing shortly after slaying the Moonlight Butterfly.
And should probably go back to Demon’s Souls too, got to NG++ and then got distracted by other games :P