Dark Souls

I've always found the Souls series to be interesting. That being said, I never thought I would actually have the patience to play through an entire game. Dark Souls is undoubtedly worth experiencing, and those who persevere are in for one of the most rewarding journeys that the PS3 has to offer.

Dark Souls takes place in a land called Lordan. The game is incredibly rich as far as it's story goes, but it is not presented in a typical manner. Rather than being filled with cutscenes, Dark Souls delivers some of its story through small chunks of dialog with the various characters you meet along your quest, while the majority of the games lore can be found in the descriptions of items you collect.

While most games would usually in some way warn players that they are entering an area that they are not yet prepared for, Dark Souls is the complete opposite. After a short introductory section that surprisingly ends with a boss fight, the player is given some very simple instructions on what to do next and is then free to go where he pleases. While you only have one realistic option at such a low level, the game still gives you various paths to choose from and rather lets you discover which ones are viable on your own. At this early point you are also introduced to one of the games most prevalent features - death.

Death plays a big part in Dark Souls. You will often approach an enemy or enter a room for the first time and die within seconds. Traps will knock you of ledges and bosses will take you out with a single hit. These deaths sometimes feel unfair, but most of the time, dying is your own fault and could be easily prevented. Embracing this point of view allows you to see death as a valuable way of improving your strategy and advancing, provided that you are able to learn from your mistakes. Death itself wouldn't feel so painful if it wasn't for the consequences. Everything in the game, from leveling up your character to buying, upgrading and repairing items, is fueled by a single currency - souls. These are accumulated slowly by collecting certain items or killing enemies, which respawn after healing at a checkpoint or dying. Upon death, you drop all your souls, leaving behind a bloodstain at the location of death. Touching the bloodstain restores the souls, but dying a second time before managing to touch the stain makes you lose them for good. This can feel extremely depressing, especially if you were in possession of a large amount of souls or were saving them for something, and then lose them all due to making a stupid mistake.

Another important feature of the game is Humanity. The player starts off as hollow, but can revert back to being human by using Humanity, which is occasionally found in the world or is awarded for killing enemies. While human, you can benefit from things like Kindling, which increases the number of health flasks restored upon touching a checkpoint, or summoning, which allows you to summon a NPC or actual player to your location in order for them to help you with a boss battle. However, being human also comes with a risk in the form of Invasions. An Invader is able to forcibly enter your game while you are human, which results in most paths being sealed until either you or the Invader are defeated. Upon death you will once again be hollow and will need Humanity in order to become human.

The most enjoyable and rewarding parts of Dark Souls are the boss battles. These can almost be viewed as puzzles. Each boss has certain behavioral and attack patterns as well as various abilities, and it is up to you to observe them, learn from your mistakes, and in the end combine all of this to achieve victory. While there are a few bosses that seem a bit too simple, most of them will give you a great sense of accomplishment upon defeating them, especially if you've been stuck on a specific boss for a very long time.

While you might sometimes feel that you died a cheap death, it is rarely so. This is due to the way Dark Souls controls, which is phenomenal. The way combat works is incredibly fun and it is fairly obvious when you make a mistake. The world itself is beautiful, with extremely varied locations and the monster design is also fantastic. The soundtrack is amazing and although the music usually only plays during boss battles, it is truly a joy to listen to. Technically, the game looks really good, but it does suffer from frame rate drops in some areas as well as having to wait for a zone's textures to render after you have already entered it, making it look like you are standing in the middle of nothing. Load time can also take a while, but this is a minor complaint since it mainly seems to affect the initial loading when you start the game and is less obvious when reviving at a checkpoint or using fast travel.

Dark Souls is in no way an easy game. But it's a fair game. It rewards persistence and punishes mistakes. Sure there are times when you just want to turn it off and never touch it again. But there are also times when you feel like your advancement is a reward for your hard work. I think everyone should at least try Dark Souls, even if they have no intention of ever finishing it. As for those of you who have the will, patience and skill to stick with it, you're in for an amazing journey filled with an impressive sense of accomplishment.