As most of us grow older, the charm and mystique surrounding videogames fade away. It’s difficult to find a game that sparks that childlike wonder again, but it’s not impossible. NOT IMPOSSIBLE.
I played Dark Souls very early on during it’s release. At first, my introduction came through an older brother, watching him struggle and slowly go mildly insane from the unforgiving and – at the time – rare difficulty. The red screen, in combination with the words “You Died” was readily etched into the stem of my brain at 11 years old, and I was immediately hooked. Like a meth addict patiently (they’re not patient) waiting for their coming fix.
I played the game, and I loved it.
It was hard, but it never felt unfair.
Actually it did, but I was 11, and my older self realize that it was indeed not unfair.
If you’ve never heard of Dark Souls, here’s a quick rundown; Dark Souls is a dark fantasy RPG, set in a medieval and brutal world filled with demons, magic, swords and monsters. You make your way through a semi open world, where you level up, get new gear and continue on your quest. The unique aspects of the game comes from the management of resources, and the setback you experience from dying. You have a limited amount of healing that can only be refilled by resting at checkpoints (bonfires), and as you do all the enemies in the area respawn (aside from a few exemptions). Almost every action you do is tied to your stamina meter, which you carefully need to manage. You souls – coins/xp – are dropped upon death, and will disappear if you die before getting back to them. Monsters and bosses deal heavy damage, and the map is filled to the brim with traps that can easily one shot you.
All in all, the experience is frustrating, but rewarding, and teaches even the smallest of person a bit of patience. It’s not rare to see people claim “Dark Souls changed my life” on social media, and albeit a bit corny, I don’t disagree with the overall sentiment. Dark Souls is one of those games that balances on the edge of art and game perfectly, and it’s very well shown in the more artistic aspects of the journey you partake. Yes, the gameplay is amazing and addicting, but the music, architecture, sound and lore of the game pulls you in like very few can. It’s very difficult to conceive the artistic nature of the game through text, so instead I will choose some of my personal favorite and the most beautiful areas of the game and share them here.
Dark Souls is a definite 10/10 game. Sure, there are some rushed areas, and you can clearly see that when playing. All the bosses and enemies won’t feel perfectly balanced, and the multiplayer – although fun as hell – is super annoying to set up. But it shines through all these things. Like a sun, shining down, deserving of praise (wink wink).
I refuse to say that “Dark Souls” changed my life, but I can’t help but feel like maybe it did, in some weird perverse way. I think about the game a lot. The times where I played PvP, the memories with my friends and brothers, me screaming and breaking controllers as a child because some stupid boss kept beating me. Maybe Dark Souls did change my life.
Maybe it will change yours? 10/10!