Dark Souls

Two short years ago, the world was introduced to Demon’s Souls – a hardcore action/RPG with one of the most bizarre difficulty curves around. Instead of starting out slow and growing in complexity, the visitors of Boletaria were quickly greeted with a massive axe-wielding brute and a quick death. Surprisingly, things didn’t get much easier from there. Demon’s Souls opens unrelentingly difficult and only slightly eased up over time. It was a test of both skill and patience, and one of the most unique pleasures to hit modern consoles. That was then, and Dark Souls is now. This “spiritual successor” proudly wears the most difficult game in town badge left behind by its predecessor, and even adds the catchphrase “Prepare to Die” just in case you didn’t know this game is ruthless.  Yet, unlike Demon’s Souls, there’s actually hype behind this release. People know what to expect from these games now – removing some of the surprise that did so many wonders the first time around. It’s a whole different landscape now, but is still as special?

The answer is an emphatic yes. Anyone who played or even heard about Demon’s Souls knows what to expect from the combat and difficulty this time around, but the world and trials it presents are so distinctive and unpredictable that none of wonder has faded. Each moment is a new challenge just begging to be attempted, and if you can resist putting the game down for more than a few hours, you’re a better person than I. From Software has created another devilish addiction that’s consumed my free time, and I hate to say it, but it feels damn good to die this much again.

Gone are the days of exploring Boletaria and engaging in terribly depressing conversation with the locals of The Nexus. Your journey takes place in Lordran – a rich and sinister land filled with fading souls barely able to hold on to their humanity and ravenous creatures with a little too much spunk for my tastes. Every wanderer, piece of architecture and tree seems to have a story to tell, but as in Demon’s Souls, the actual narrative and character development is sparse. Cutscenes are provided from time to time to keep things moving, but the amiable environments and narrative traces encourage you to fill in the blanks. The tale of my brave pyromancer Jehoshaphat may be entirely different than your less inspired creation – even though their paths traveled to reach the end was similar. Dark Souls puts the pace and details of the story in the hands of the player, yet still magically keeps the whole experience feeling steady and cohesive.

You'll rarely have time to stop and catch your breath.

Since you and your character drive the adventure, the first non-lethal task presented is character creation.  Like Demon’s Souls, there are plenty of different sliders that change various facial features. If you really want to spend time altering the width of the bridge of the character’s nose or the spacing between his eyes, you’re in luck – all of that is there and too much more. Yet, armor so frequently covers both the face and body that it’s best to just go with a simple preset. Messing with the gender bar (I really have no idea why this is still a thing) may be pretty important, but the actual character class is where the first real decision is made. Basic choices like warrior, thief and knight are all here and each have a unique skill set that impacts the early portions of the game. Warriors move like tanks but have the defense to back it up and pyromancers throw a mean fireball, but since you decide which attributes to plug points into as the game progresses, class really doesn’t matter later on. My current pyromancer still chucks some hot ember, but his strength and resistance give him the characteristics of a towering knight.

While the character customization may not see too many changes from Demon’s Souls, the structure of the world is wildly different. There’s no more hub world or giant stone slabs to transport you to specific levels – Dark Souls is an open world. After completing the tutorial, you’re dropped onto a bonfire, which acts as a respawn location. Yes, there are actually checkpoints in this game. Of course, while they may replenish health and magic, they also revive any enemy you’ve pillaged along the way and aren’t exactly frequent. It takes a certain degree of the pressure off, but this is still a game that constantly keeps you on edge. This is also a game where it’s easy to take a wrong turn. From this bonfire there are about three different paths to take, so me being the seasoned veteran of the “franchise” that I am, I headed toward the graveyard littered with bones. With a dirty axe in one hand and a ratty shield in the other, I bravely charged into the small army of boney soldiers quickly pulling themselves together. To put it nicely, I was torn to pieces. After a few more failed attempts, I realized I had gone the wrong way.

Sometimes, running is your best option.

With this being one big interconnected series of regions varying in difficulty, this type of death happens quite often. Running into the arms of a living tree that quickly squeezes your life away is frustrating, but the sprawling environment and ever-present sense of anxiety are worth the struggle. Certain portions of the game are still pretty well segmented (there’s a lava-filled cavern that has three different bosses), but going from crumbling castle to a foggy forest feels seamless and natural. From Software has built a gloom-wrought world that holds mystery and terror around each bend, yet there’s still an undeniable beauty to it. Locations like Anor Londo and Blighttown are both beaming with personality and history – even though there’s no manuscript to tell their tale. It’s a lonely and dangerous place to explore, but after finally landing the last strike against a boss that’s thrown you around like trash for hours, the urge to see what’s through the next gate is almost impossible to resist.

There’s most likely a deadly dweller of the dark waiting around the bend though, so it’s best to keep your shield and guard up at all times. Heinous creatures reach out to grab you when least expected, and Reaction Time ™ alone won’t save you. What will is a trusty and reliable weapon. Dark Souls may seem like your average combo-based action title with light and heavy attack options, but the focus on precision and timing place it in its own personal category. Mashing buttons and charging in head first will only result in repeated death and a serious migraine, so getting to know how your character moves and the length of the animations is highly recommended. You have to manage the stamina bar that drains after each swing and roll, raise your shied as the enemy’s steel approaches and only use Estus Flasks (the healing item) when there’s actually time to drink them. It’s difficult, but it’s also fair. There were only about two times where I felt my death wasn’t my fault, but every other instance was just a poor decision on my part. Practice makes perfect – just don’t get discouraged when dozens of deaths result from your efforts. Trial and error gameplay is usually considered a bad thing in games, but in Dark Souls, it’s one of the most rewarding processes.

Not everything about Darks Souls is doom and gloom. You’re going to die – that’s just a fact. Yet, the souls gathered from fallen enemies can be used to beef up your character with both higher stats and equipment, making the long road through this world a little more bearable. Souls are the universal currency, and resting at bonfires allows you to increase strength, vitality, endurance and many other stats. Souls also buy spells, weapons and can be used in conjunction with Titanite (minerals dropped by enemies) to upgrade these weapons. You won’t see substantial changes in combat after increasing a few stats, but like any RPG, grinding for hours will eventually do the trick. Actually, compared to Demon’s Souls, I noticed a greater impact during combat after each increasing level. I was encouraged to spend hour after hour escalating my pool of sweet souls because the results were actually visible, while Demon’s  Souls always managed to make me feel delicate and feeble no matter the hard work I put in.

No one likes Black Phantoms. No one.

For this reason, and the inclusion of bonfires, I find Dark Souls to be an easier game than its “predecessor”.  Before labeling my opinion as invalid for this statement, please hear me out. Darks Souls is one hell of a challenge. I’ve never thrown my controller across a room while screaming profanity loud enough for my entire campus to hear until this game, so it’s still damn difficult. Yet, with some bonfires located just outside of a bosses’ domain and higher stats making a bigger difference, some of the extreme frustration that came along with Demon’s Souls has left. Reviving yourself is also much simpler. In Dark Souls, it takes an item called Humanity to change from a hollow to a living entity, and the humanity item is dropped fairly frequently by specific enemies. The eye stones (which had the same effect) in Demon’s Souls were much more difficult to come across, leaving you to walk Boletaria with less health and hope quite often.

Using humanity to regain human form is most useful for the game’s organic co-op feature. A hollowed player has the ability to set a marker down in specific segments of the map for human players to see. The human player can summon that character through the symbol to help tackle bosses as well as a few earlier portions of the area. Three strangers can join forces to conquer the massive bosses – with no means of communication. It may sound odd to exclude voice chat in a game that’s so dependent on teamwork, but it’s the silent, gesture-based relationships created that had me hunting for new players whenever possible. Grizzled veterans can show newcomers hidden paths and boss strategies, and groups of three similarly skilled combatants can solve bosses for the first time together. It all perfectly fits into the lore and world, and still feels fresh and unique even though it’s the same system as that of Demon’s Souls.

It's always a good idea to carry a bow - just in case.

Players can also invade your game. And kill you. Right after you used your last humanity. Without remorse. So, if you happen to be one of those people who continually stabbed me in the chest and watched my hopes and dreams spill on once clean white tiles, please write an apology in the comments. You basterds.

Summoning other players into your game (or entering another player’s world) is the most interesting and pleasurable way to tackle boss fights. Quick thinking, experience and a powerful character are all still necessary, but the co-op forces a degree of solidarity that must be built without a single word spoken. The player who summoned other adventurers into their game also acts as the most essential component of the equation, since if they fall in battle, the entire group fails. A group may keep their leader tucked away in the back, or take a chance at a full charge – it’s a game of risk. If you’re not connected to the internet and manage to miss out on summoning players and reading community messages left on the ground, the bosses of Dark Souls present a very different set of challenges. This is where the trial and error gameplay is most frequently found, as it’s exceedingly rare to drop a boss creature on the first try. It takes time to orient yourself to his patterns, range, power and even his appearance. From a technical standpoint, Darks Souls is nothing special to look at, but the many monsters walking the glum roads excel in artistic direction. The brilliant blend of light and dark hues along with the sprawling, mountainous landscapes stretching for miles almost make me believe that this world is beyond fiction. There were two bosses in particular that were so visually striking to me that I forgot to raise my shield – quickly falling to their first assail. Maybe I’m an odd case, but I find the beauty of the bosses and the world to be just another piece in this sophisticated puzzle.

Don’t think that Dark Souls is just about getting from point A to point Boss, though. There’s a bevy of things to do in Lordran – many of them completely optional and easy to miss. NPCs scattered throughout the land are ready to either help or (of course) kill you, the best weapons are buried in the most obscure parts of specific levels, and covenants (a new addition to the series) even manage to open novel pathways and add original challenges. The nine Covenants act as the factions of Dark Souls, and allow for rewards based on the specific guidelines of those by which you’ve pledged. It’s just one of the many features that you learn a little more about as each hour passes, and my 40 hour play through came along with many learning experiences. Still, I feel I could sink another 100 hours into the new game+ and come away with a whole new understanding. There’s just so much to do and see in Dark Souls that at times I can’t believe this was on a two-year development cycle.

This guy killed me around two dozen times.

Of course, Dark Souls isn’t a perfect game – no matter the amount of praise I shower it with. The frame rate stays steady during periods of little action or one-on-one battles, but when things get hairy, the game almost comes to a screeching halt. Bosses can stop you in your tracks not through skill or overwhelming strength, but by forcing the game to sputter along at an outrageously choppy fashion. In a game where quick reactions and precision are so valuable, it’s unbearably trying hitting a snag where the game almost wholly stops. Speaking of abrupt stops, the conclusion of the game is terribly anticlimactic and brief. I really didn’t expect a great deal from the ending, as this isn’t a game with a heavy narrative focus, but the 20 second finish after my 40 hours of work wasn’t ideal. There are actually multiple endings, but neither supplies the player with the reward they deserve.

Even with my quibbles, Dark Souls has taken control of the majority of my life. I’ve had two nightmares where I’m trapped in the world, wrote a sonnet about the game for my creative writing class, and think about why I should be playing Dark Souls when I’m not playing Dark Souls. It’s an absorbing experience that deeply sinks its fangs into anyone willing to take the risk. Of course, it’s not for every gamer out there – if trial and error gameplay isn’t for you, don’t waste your time. Yet, those who are willing to put forth the time and find joy in conquering what once seemed like an insurmountable task will find no greater joy than Dark Souls. It’s exactly where this series needed to go, and an experience that will take months to escape my psyche.

Josiah Renaudin

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