[Reposting my old reviews from another site for archive, and updating them if needed]
I can safely say that this is my favorite Souls game. No, not just within the Souls series, but the genre itself. Going into it, I had tempered my expectations because I knew that many parts of the game wouldn't be as refined or spotless as the newer games by From Soft, and despite that being true, Bluepoint's remake efforts have rendered every flaw of the game to be unremarkable at best. The cutting edge technical prowess in display is simply sublime. The controls feel like a dream, and it never became the subject of my frustrations. Each of the levels' atmosphere are painstakingly presented with graceful quality, and it's easy for me to be distracted from the task at hand by the amazingly detailed graphics and sound design. The music has been wonderfully rearranged into an modern orchestral version, and I can't imagine it being done better than this. From an audiovisual perspective, it's quite convincing as a next-gen showpiece.
Those amazing qualities let the core of the gameplay truly shine, and to put it simply, the light did not falter. The pace of the combat is perfect for me: not too slow, not too fast. I love how condensed the levels feel from a design standpoint: none of them are truly big in scale, but getting through them still feels like a real adventure to me, because there's just so much going on in each of them. Obviously there are levels that stand out more than the rest (4-1 and 3-2 comes to mind), but overall it's very solid. While the enemy AI can be exploitable, I still give them some respect because they can surprise me at times with their aggressiveness. In short, the moment-to-moment gameplay of exploring these levels is a top tier experience.
I think the closest thing the game has to a fatal flaw are the bosses. While some of them are either quite challenging (Flamelurker, Maneater) or provide an entertaining set piece (Fool's Idol, Storm King), there are a couple that are just too tame, and fall flat on their faces. Of course, it's indicative of the original game's role as a prototype of sorts, a big step towards the Souls formula that we know today. Still, it's hard to completely forgive considering the heights From has achieved in their newer titles.
I think the fact that I'm even thinking about playing NG+ shows how much I enjoyed this game. As somebody who's not a big Souls enjoyer, this is quite the refreshing experience, and I wish more Souls-like have the same kind of experimental spirit instead of just trying to polish existing mechanics to perfection.
I can safely say that this is my favorite Souls game. No, not just within the Souls series, but the genre itself. Going into it, I had tempered my expectations because I knew that many parts of the game wouldn't be as refined or spotless as the newer games by From Soft, and despite that being true, Bluepoint's remake efforts have rendered every flaw of the game to be unremarkable at best. The cutting edge technical prowess in display is simply sublime. The controls feel like a dream, and it never became the subject of my frustrations. Each of the levels' atmosphere are painstakingly presented with graceful quality, and it's easy for me to be distracted from the task at hand by the amazingly detailed graphics and sound design. The music has been wonderfully rearranged into an modern orchestral version, and I can't imagine it being done better than this. From an audiovisual perspective, it's quite convincing as a next-gen showpiece.
Those amazing qualities let the core of the gameplay truly shine, and to put it simply, the light did not falter. The pace of the combat is perfect for me: not too slow, not too fast. I love how condensed the levels feel from a design standpoint: none of them are truly big in scale, but getting through them still feels like a real adventure to me, because there's just so much going on in each of them. Obviously there are levels that stand out more than the rest (4-1 and 3-2 comes to mind), but overall it's very solid. While the enemy AI can be exploitable, I still give them some respect because they can surprise me at times with their aggressiveness. In short, the moment-to-moment gameplay of exploring these levels is a top tier experience.
I think the closest thing the game has to a fatal flaw are the bosses. While some of them are either quite challenging (Flamelurker, Maneater) or provide an entertaining set piece (Fool's Idol, Storm King), there are a couple that are just too tame, and fall flat on their faces. Of course, it's indicative of the original game's role as a prototype of sorts, a big step towards the Souls formula that we know today. Still, it's hard to completely forgive considering the heights From has achieved in their newer titles.
I think the fact that I'm even thinking about playing NG+ shows how much I enjoyed this game. As somebody who's not a big Souls enjoyer, this is quite the refreshing experience, and I wish more Souls-like have the same kind of experimental spirit instead of just trying to polish existing mechanics to perfection.