This game is the textbook definition of a "doozy". It's like they designed a flawless diamond and then smashed it with a hammer and glued the pieces back haphazardly. It still shines brightly, but God damn if it isn't an ugly mess.
The key aspect here is that the core loop of this game does not fit together with the other Souls games at all, to the point where it almost seems like an entirely different genre because of one very specific reason: exploration here is punished rather than rewarded.
Picture Dark Souls, if you will. In that series, if you die, you respawn at a bonfire that's at most like 5 minutes away from where you were, and you completely restock your healing items. This combination of respawning close to where you died + getting all your heals back is the perfect storm for incentivizing exploration. You see that item over there? fuck it, go get it. Even if it's a Soul of a Nameless Soldier, the worst that can happen is you respawning at a cozy, warm bonfire that's right down the alley. In DeS, however, if you die you go back the WHOLE level and you can wave bye-bye to whatever cure you used, it ain't coming back.
You see how that makes you want to avoid going off the beaten path at all costs? what's worse is that, in true Souls fashion, 9/10 of the items scattered around the map are indeed Soul of a Nameless Soldier, regardless of which area you're in. I can't stress enough how stressful this game gets, in many times it gave me a feeling akin to being herbless, ammoless and maidenless in Resident Evil games, except that you're not fighting cracked-up freakazoid goblins while slow-rolling in a poison swamp in RE.
(By the way, duping items is extremely quick 'n' easy in this game so if you're afraid of trying it because of no Estus, there ya go.)
I also shouldn't forget to mention that this game is visually DARK. 1/3rd of the game feels like Tomb of Giants, it's insane. Which also leads me to my second complaint: this game's atmosphere is a hodge-podge mess because the map is not one seamless world like the other Souls games, instead being a Super Mario 3-esque selection of areas through menus. This ruins the illusion of a living world, completely shattering the immersion. The levels themselves, though, are generally cool to play through, all things considered. They're about as intricate and interesting to navigate as you'd expect from a Souls game, which is very impressive when you factor in that this is the first game in the series. Whenever there's a shortcut they're always very impressive, though sadly there aren't too many of them: the game is surprisingly short. At about 20 hours, it's around half of DS1.
Although I just complimented the level design of each area, mostly based on intricacy, this part of the game is also certainly not without it's big flaws. Loads of segments are just plainly annoying to deal with. You know the bridge in DS1 that connects Undead Burg with Undead Parish, the one that has the Hellkite Drake? there are like 5 of these in this game. The arrow bridge in 3 - 1 is absolute bullshit and should've been an optional shortcut, and the aforementioned poison swamp of 5 - 2 is about as rage-inducing as Shrine of Amana. On the opposite direction but still retaining that amateurish nature, most of the bossfights are ridiculously easy and gimmicky. Aside from 5 exceptions, pretty much every bossfight is a joke.
The soundtrack is great, but it certainly is the black sheep of the franchise as well, as most aspects of DeS seem to be. It's not epic and grandiose, but rather strange and somewhat unnerving. It's a very interesting contrast, and it's one of the few points where I'll say that this game has a clear and definite identity that sets it apart from the others in a good way.
Enough complaining though, this game has many great aspects that should be lauded, specially taking into consideration that it was the first one in the series. You wouldn't believe how many Souls tropes originated here, both large-scale setpieces and small details alike. For example, from the previously mentioned bridge dragons and poison swamps (third time these FUCKERS show up in this review), to the shaking carriages we see in Aldia's Keep, the fact that both Irithyll Dungeon and the Profaned Capital are carbon-copies of worlds 3 - 1 and 3 - 2, or how Renalla is just a better version of the Fool's Idol. The Crestfallen Warrior, Patches, the irritable blacksmith, the menu sounds, myriads of other details, big and small, originated here. This is really nuts. My mans Miyazaki had a vision, that's for sure. The gameplay also feels just like DrkS1 as far as I remember, been a while since I last played it.
Also without spoiling it, the ending has a twist that, albeit cool, is something I've seen in at least 2 other games that came before.
The main takeaway is that this game is iconic from a pioneering standpoint, but it's crystal clear why Dark Souls 1 is the one people think of when mentioning which game started this gangsta shit. Who would've thunk that frequent checkpoints, infinite healing items, a less chaotic difficulty and an interconnected world would elevate this game from "great but impenetrable 7th gen JP jank" to, in my eyes, the best franchise in gaming.
Edit: forgot to mention World and Character Tendency, yeah these are kind of a big deal lmao
Honestly don't care about that system. It's essentially a karma system that makes your game more or less insufferable to deal with, so I just kept everything at White and hoped for the best. Can't say I really explored it.
The key aspect here is that the core loop of this game does not fit together with the other Souls games at all, to the point where it almost seems like an entirely different genre because of one very specific reason: exploration here is punished rather than rewarded.
Picture Dark Souls, if you will. In that series, if you die, you respawn at a bonfire that's at most like 5 minutes away from where you were, and you completely restock your healing items. This combination of respawning close to where you died + getting all your heals back is the perfect storm for incentivizing exploration. You see that item over there? fuck it, go get it. Even if it's a Soul of a Nameless Soldier, the worst that can happen is you respawning at a cozy, warm bonfire that's right down the alley. In DeS, however, if you die you go back the WHOLE level and you can wave bye-bye to whatever cure you used, it ain't coming back.
You see how that makes you want to avoid going off the beaten path at all costs? what's worse is that, in true Souls fashion, 9/10 of the items scattered around the map are indeed Soul of a Nameless Soldier, regardless of which area you're in. I can't stress enough how stressful this game gets, in many times it gave me a feeling akin to being herbless, ammoless and maidenless in Resident Evil games, except that you're not fighting cracked-up freakazoid goblins while slow-rolling in a poison swamp in RE.
(By the way, duping items is extremely quick 'n' easy in this game so if you're afraid of trying it because of no Estus, there ya go.)
I also shouldn't forget to mention that this game is visually DARK. 1/3rd of the game feels like Tomb of Giants, it's insane. Which also leads me to my second complaint: this game's atmosphere is a hodge-podge mess because the map is not one seamless world like the other Souls games, instead being a Super Mario 3-esque selection of areas through menus. This ruins the illusion of a living world, completely shattering the immersion. The levels themselves, though, are generally cool to play through, all things considered. They're about as intricate and interesting to navigate as you'd expect from a Souls game, which is very impressive when you factor in that this is the first game in the series. Whenever there's a shortcut they're always very impressive, though sadly there aren't too many of them: the game is surprisingly short. At about 20 hours, it's around half of DS1.
Although I just complimented the level design of each area, mostly based on intricacy, this part of the game is also certainly not without it's big flaws. Loads of segments are just plainly annoying to deal with. You know the bridge in DS1 that connects Undead Burg with Undead Parish, the one that has the Hellkite Drake? there are like 5 of these in this game. The arrow bridge in 3 - 1 is absolute bullshit and should've been an optional shortcut, and the aforementioned poison swamp of 5 - 2 is about as rage-inducing as Shrine of Amana. On the opposite direction but still retaining that amateurish nature, most of the bossfights are ridiculously easy and gimmicky. Aside from 5 exceptions, pretty much every bossfight is a joke.
The soundtrack is great, but it certainly is the black sheep of the franchise as well, as most aspects of DeS seem to be. It's not epic and grandiose, but rather strange and somewhat unnerving. It's a very interesting contrast, and it's one of the few points where I'll say that this game has a clear and definite identity that sets it apart from the others in a good way.
Enough complaining though, this game has many great aspects that should be lauded, specially taking into consideration that it was the first one in the series. You wouldn't believe how many Souls tropes originated here, both large-scale setpieces and small details alike. For example, from the previously mentioned bridge dragons and poison swamps (third time these FUCKERS show up in this review), to the shaking carriages we see in Aldia's Keep, the fact that both Irithyll Dungeon and the Profaned Capital are carbon-copies of worlds 3 - 1 and 3 - 2, or how Renalla is just a better version of the Fool's Idol. The Crestfallen Warrior, Patches, the irritable blacksmith, the menu sounds, myriads of other details, big and small, originated here. This is really nuts. My mans Miyazaki had a vision, that's for sure. The gameplay also feels just like DrkS1 as far as I remember, been a while since I last played it.
Also without spoiling it, the ending has a twist that, albeit cool, is something I've seen in at least 2 other games that came before.
The main takeaway is that this game is iconic from a pioneering standpoint, but it's crystal clear why Dark Souls 1 is the one people think of when mentioning which game started this gangsta shit. Who would've thunk that frequent checkpoints, infinite healing items, a less chaotic difficulty and an interconnected world would elevate this game from "great but impenetrable 7th gen JP jank" to, in my eyes, the best franchise in gaming.
Edit: forgot to mention World and Character Tendency, yeah these are kind of a big deal lmao
Honestly don't care about that system. It's essentially a karma system that makes your game more or less insufferable to deal with, so I just kept everything at White and hoped for the best. Can't say I really explored it.