This is kind of a long review; I know everyone has already played this but I feel like this is a game that deserves to be praised endlessly, and something I pretty much have to talk about. As such, a lot of it is just me gushing or rambling over everything.

I understand the hype now. This is a game deserving of its status and all the praise it gets, and has single-handedly made me want to play every game in the series. I’m honestly kind of pissed that these games have garnered a reputation that’s somewhat along the lines of “most difficult games ever that are impossible, will make you rage and throw your controller against a wall”, because it really did put me off playing them for a long time, especially as I don’t consider myself that skilled of a player. But in fact, this game practically strikes a perfect difficulty, although this isn’t really apparent at the start - and is probably where a majority of players give up (and I did too when I first tried it). The game doesn’t really tell you a whole lot of how the mechanics work, so it is up to the player to figure it out, and once I did, it was impossible to stop.

At first I was expecting the combat to be primarily focused on dodging due to seeing some gameplay of later entries, but really it’s more about using your shield as effectively as possible. In the beginning I was completely floundering over the stamina-based system, I kept clicking the attack button without realising that it remembers all your inputs so I’d end up dead pretty quickly, or I’d get my shield broken which would lead to my stamina having to fully regenerate again resulting in a death. These two moments at the beginning kind of sum up my experience with the entire game, the gameplay is really just a case of trial and error at it’s most difficult - figuring out what works, what doesn’t and what is most effective is what I enjoyed a lot about the combat, and made trekking back through familiar areas never feel boring or tedious. It’s the moments that are unpredictable that fuel the gameplay of DS1, maybe getting ambushed by enemies that you breezed by a previous time, or falling off a cliff unexpectedly, that is humorous, but also contributes to the game's iconic status.

However, what rewires your brain are the boss fights which do require a lot of dodging, and understanding of how an enemy attacks, which either make for some absolutely brilliant and exhilarating fights, or some really wack and sometimes bullshit ones. I love how most of the fights reward aggressive play, and punish defensive strategies. Trying to block and heal for a boss like Sif is near impossible and will result in death quickly, which is the same with a majority of the fights, but it’s the unique fights like Artorias that flip your thinking, and where blocking is crucial to victory since his agility is insane. The DLC bosses are by far the best in the game and it’s mainly due to their speed and aggressiveness, unfortunately DS1’s mechanics aren’t refined enough to account for this, but really, who gives a shit. Fighting these bosses (especially Manus) and finally conquering them gave me an enormous amount of satisfaction and was the first time where I felt that feeling that so many players like to point out. Artorias is excellent obviously but I fucking despise Kalameet, still an incredible fight though solely based on the dragon hunting cutscene.

Honestly, this game’s difficulty cannot be compared to the likes of older video games that feel dreadfully unfair and incredibly infuriating at times, I love some older games like Contra 3 but the difficulty spikes are absolutely criminal and nearly made me put off finishing it, as for others like Ghouls n’ Ghosts, they can go fuck themselves. I really only got pissed off once, and that was due to Kalameet. While Dark Souls 1 undeniably is difficult, it is fair (mostly) and that is what kept me pushing through the game to the end because it felt like I was improving with each death. There are some skill checks like with O&S but I think it is a near perfect fight that is something I felt like all players would be willing to defeat because it is so iconic. Playing DS1 wasn’t even a case of “I must prove that I can beat it to show off to my friends, otherwise I suck ass” because I don’t have the patience for that and would abandon it whenever.

I think for the most part navigating the world is more difficult than the actual fights. But the world is absolutely worth exploring, it is so immaculately crafted and everything I could ever hope for. Every single time I booted up the game I would get immediately immersed in it, the sound design is unbelievably perfect and the atmosphere of each area is suffocating and so evocative and beautiful it’s almost ethereal at times. The oppressiveness of areas like Blighttown and Snake Fortress in contrast to the (illusory) beauty of Anor Londo, walking down an area as decrepit and hopeless as The Great Hollow suddenly being shocked by the beauty of Ash Lake is unforgettable. Each area has its own identity to it and it makes all of them so memorable, no matter if they were tedious or not. Making an interconnected world in 2D is almost a staple at this point due to metroidvanias but having it in a 3D space is astounding. The interconnectivity of the world had me speechless at times, so many different ways to return back to Firelink, and every time I heard the gorgeous theme and saw the warm hue of a safe place I just kept getting more and more impressed. If how connected Firelink was isn’t enough, practically every single area - even the most menial ones - loop around to create shortcuts and it is mindblowing at times, especially during the DLC. I love how open the game is as well, it’s really up to you where you want to go, even at the beginning. Obviously, you may get stumped by some enemies that you are not supposed to face early on but the freedom it gives is so refreshing, and allows for different routes for subsequent playthroughs. The second half as well lets the player take total control of where they want to go, which is kind of obtuse at first, but once you get going it’s quite obvious.

Being ensnared in a world that is actively hostile against you is amazing, everything wants to kill you and everything wants to make you quit, even the first character you meet immediately tells you to give up. But, it’s this opposing theme of persistence that permeates through DS1 - you never really want to fully give up and leave the game for good. Whether it’s through characters who you progressively get to know and help like Solaire and Siegmeyer, even though they have limited appearances their presence is so refreshing in a world that is vehemently against you progressing (Even other NPC’s like Lautrec actually being a traitor is obvious once you converse with him but his actions aren’t expected), and sitting down to talk to them was always worth it.

The iconic bonfires are a great alternative for checkpoints, they are a beacon of your progress through the game where you can sit with other ‘ghosts’ of players, but they also brighten the oppressive atmosphere that the game puts you through. They give you time to calm down and celebrate your passing through a previous tough area, but they also aren’t too lenient as they are few and far between. Areas like Snake Fortress are especially cruel as there is no bonfire at all while you are progressing through it until you get to the top, which also makes your gameplay much more tighter and precise, as you know if you die you’ll have to reset from the beginning. But once you do reach that bonfire, it is so damn satisfying. On the contrary, kindling bonfires gives extra Estus Flasks but this leads to more sloppy and laidback combat which may lead to a future death. Another example of risk vs reward that makes DS1’s gameplay consistently engaging, and thoughtful.

I would like to touch on the frequent statement of the “downfall” of the second half, because I don’t really agree with it. The first half is practically flawless and possibly my favourite experience ever in a video game, but the second half wasn’t enough to detract from that experience. There is a noticeable dip in overall quality and basically all the areas do feel rushed and have some horrendous gimmick - Tomb of the Giants being completely dark, the weird ass invisible platforms in Crystal Caverns, the entirety of Lost Izalith, the infuriating ghosts in New Londo - but I still think that it is very good, and retains pretty much everything that made me love the first half. The enemies are completely ruthless most of the time and will punish you for any mistake you make, but I found that the challenge was a lot more fun to overcome. Nito and Seath were a complete pushover, Four Kings was pretty difficult, and Bed of Chaos is notoriously a terrible gimmick, and yeah that’s certainly true, but I got insanely lucky and managed to beat her first try, so I didn’t have to endure that abysmal runback. These areas are still absolutely gorgeous though, for example being able to see Ash Lake from Tomb of the Giants is so incredibly cool it made me appreciate the layering of the world even more. I could gush about this game for hours, but I’ll stop now.

Dark Souls is absolutely a masterpiece, and perhaps the single greatest game ever made, a groundbreaking piece of media that has had a massive influence on the entire video game industry - but it still holds up today on its own. It is challenging but gratifying, oppressive yet hopeful; brutal, unfair (at times), unforgiving, ruthless, suffocating, crushing, I did want to give up multiple times - yet I persevered and pushed through to the end to save the dying land that I got so involved in and came to love.

Dark Souls 1 somehow managed to reach the expectations I had for it, shatter them, and land as my favourite of all time, and is a game that could only be rivalled by the best that the entire medium has to offer.