An Alternative Look at Dark Souls

As you likely know, Dark Souls II just released this week and it has already garnered quite a bit of buzz.

I only recently got into Dark Souls at all. I had spent a chunk of time with Demon's Souls previously, so I already had a taste of the grim challenges that From Software is capable of. I originally became interested in playing these games because I had heard all the hype about how hard but rewarding these games are. So, I got a copy of Dark Souls, and I've loved it ever since.

When an acquaintance of mine recently shared this article with me, I was rather intrigued:

Why Dark Souls is the friendliest, most benevolent game of its generation

This article does a great job of explaining why I've fallen in love with this game.

What I've noticed while playing Dark Souls is that time has flown by. For the first time in a long while, I have put about 60 hours into it with very little interruption. I have started dozens of games which I played for about 10-20 hours, then gotten sidetracked by other games only to return weeks or months later with no recollection of what I had done before. But, not Dark Souls. Sure, I put a few hours into Bastion at one point, but I returned to Dark Souls. Why? The article above explains it perfectly. Dark Souls is an experience unlike any I've had in recent memory.

In my mind, I find that From Software was able to tap into some old school game design and successfully marry it with a 3D environment. The way I explain it is this: Dark Souls has the navigation and exploration of early Metroid games, but with the difficulty of NES Mega Man or Ninja Gaiden games, but as a 3D RPG. As someone who grew up on those games and watched 3D engines evolve from their earliest stages, I'm fascinated with what Dark Souls has accomplished. Demon's Souls tried, but Dark Souls just did it better.

On top of this old school design, the atmosphere of Dark Souls is also very enticing. Take a gothic setting, and remove nearly all inhabitants from it. You only come across another non-hostile character every few hours, and they are always very cryptic. It lends a mystique to the world. The enemy design is fantastic, too.

The moment when you realize those aren't the eyes...

Though I'll likely generate some chiding from my fellow SunBros by saying this, I don't think Dark Souls is a perfect game. I don't think such a thing exists. The game does have some downfalls. 

• The story, because it's so sparse, tends to be obtuse and it takes real digging to piece everything together. (Though, that does have a certain charm in and of itself.) 
• The controls are not necessarily the most intuitive, and the game has a habit of queuing up button presses. If you button mash, you're likely to not be taking the actions you want to. 
• There's a good amount of backtracking, which can get tedious. And the list can go on.

Dark Souls, now that I've put a good amount of time into it, has become one of the most rewarding gaming experiences I've had in quite some time. And it's not masochism; I legitmately like being challenged, and I haven't felt a challenge like this in a long time. I salute Bandai Namco for giving From Software the breathing room to create something like this. Most publishers wouldn't have the guts to release such a game in this day and age. 

Praise the sun!