I have cussed and bitched and moaned about this games for many years, ever since I played it for the first time. This was my first ever souls games, which my friends know is a big deal-- especially with my love for Dark Souls 1 and Bloodborne. But when I first played it, I only got half way through, thinking about how miserable of a time I had. At time I had finally given it another shot, it had been four years minimum. I had expected that experience and the recent trend in revisioning the game in a positive light might give me a different perspective... I've finally finished the base game after all these years and it disappoints me that my opinion hasn't changed at all. Mechanics for stats linked to I-frames in dodge rolls, attempts of garnering a reputation as "the hard game", and worst of all-- just not being fun. Gameplay wise, it's a mess, punishing the player for everything achieved in previous titles and attempting to expand on ideas from Demon Souls that weren't brought back in Dark Souls. Despite how unfun it all is, the story is there and the world is there, for those elements alone, it is perhaps the best piece of worldbuilding and storytelling out of all three of the Souls games... it's just incredibly disappointing that it is stuck in the game that its stuck in. As of writing this, I am playing through all the DLC, reviewing each of them individually.

Also fuck you Shrine of Amana, The Gutter, and Black Gulch