Dark souls truly is as good as people say. In the face of things the game gets right, its shortcomings are fairly inconsequential. I’ll get those out of the way now. Not every boss is a 10/10 amazing life changing experience, some of the music isn’t perfect and there’s a lot of classic “hard game” bullshit, especially in the original version were a basilisk mob lag spike is basically a guaranteed shit journey back to firelink. With all that out of the way, I can confidently say dark souls rules total ass. There’s something so satisfying about this genre defining combat against some of gaming most iconic bosses. Learning which weapons or spells are gonna be better for your play style or when to let that attack button fly or play it safe is the cornerstone of gameplay and it’s pretty entertaining. Although combat seems to progressively evolve as the series goes on there’s something about this pre-mega graphic world that oozes charm and intrigue. The 5 gods and the lord soul world building is definitely captivating and the game does an excellent job of building up these boss fights before they even happen. The physical world is also amazing, taking clear inspiration from very 1100s architecture and combining it with fantasy to make something amazing. Buildings like the undead asylum not only build intrigue but also exhibit the historical influence above and that flight to Anor Londo for the first time really sells the might and magnificence of king Gwyn and the other lords. It is definitely good for the lore scroungers for the reasons I’ve mentioned above and then some and I am definitely a lore scrounger. Perhaps the biggest thing that stood out about this game however is its theme and how it connects to the gameplay. I think it’s absolutely genius to make a game hard and have the lord of the game imply that if you, the player give up, your character becomes hollow like the other undead of lordran. The game encourages perseverance in a very fun and kind of melancholic way. We see someone go hollow because they are jealous of our perseverance and they lose their purpose and king gwyn became so obsessed with conserving the age of fire he himself went hollow as well, hence it’s beautiful and tragically presented boss fight. I could talk about this facet of the game for hours but I’ll end it by saying dark souls is brilliant and truly solidifies itself as a modern classic. Please play it if you get the chance! Also the music fucks hard💯

A unique game and an instant classic, Dark Souls is a game oozing with atmosphere and challenges. What Dark Souls seems to stand out in is environmental storytelling, the environments you inhabit are well designed in terms of connectivity, ambience, and especially lore. The lore is told through implications with casual NPC dialogues and item descriptions which help the player connect the laws and relationships of a rich world. This boon however comes shorthand into the one main issue with Dark Souls which that there is no story. It is mostly a disconjointed series of events reliant on atmosphere but that atmosphere is so excellent it creates an entirely unique experience. An interesting mechanic of DS is death, upon which all of your unspent experience points are left at the area you died and you respawn at a save point which the opportunity to reclaim your points, however dying again nullifies your points entirely. This leads to a gameplay style that is ‘High-Risk, High-Reward’ which is compounded by unpredictable enemy behaviour, booby traps, difficulty spikes, and a clunky combat system. There is a thrill of exploring the unknown and also knowing that you could lose everything if you’re not careful. It is also one of the few games where dying becomes an incentive rather than a deterrent to continue playing, which is a fundamental difference which should not be understated.

it's True, All of it, this beloved Games For Windows Live title invented dark fantasy settings, checkpoints, dodging, stamina management, health potion drinking tied to an animation, needing to get your wonga back after you die, so many things in all your favorite PeeCee and PS2 games, but even now we have yet to re-invent hit feedback (we lost that technology two decades ago along with SWAT 3's AI etc. when the Library of Alexandria was tragically burnt down....). sadly tho this Prepare2Iframe title is a bit too hardcoar and trial&error for my tastes, hence why I prefer casual 'bingbingwahoo' games like Captain Claw and Maximo.

Gameplay: challenging and addictive
Themes: ominous yet brave
Lore: deep and thought-provoking
World Design: a masterclass in interconnectivity and atmosphere
My heart: stolen