Pleasant Dread.
It is hard to pull off being both beautiful and genuinely frighting at the same time. Where everything you see is ravishing, yet unnerving. In Dark Souls, From Software's spiritual successor to the cult hit, Demon's Souls, you are constantly scared of what awaits you around every corner- yet, you become absolutely engrossed in the games thick atmosphere that you are compelled to push on.
You play as the chosen undead; a character with an unknown past that is seemingly picked at random to fulfill an almost impossible task that has obliterated all of those who have come before. After testing your abilities in what amounts to the games version of a tutorial, you are carried away to the mainland of Lordran, a decrepit land that has been abandoned by the living for what seems to be hundreds of years. You are greeted by a crestfallen warrior who gives you the task of ringing the two Bells of Awakening. He explains that one is above, and one is below. You are then left to your own devices, because unlike Demon's Souls' Nexus hub world where you would load into specific levels via arch-stones, Dark Souls is set in an open world, where nearly everywhere is available to you at the start of the game. This can be very daunting for a new player, because what Dark Souls does in common with Demon's Souls is that almost nothing is explained. Other than very specific hints given by talking with NPC's and reading item descriptions, the player is left to experiment. As far as story goes, it only goes as deep as the player is willing to read into things. It can be completely ignored and the game would be still highly enjoyable, but don't think that there isn't any back story- it's actually quite detailed and deep. Most of it is quite confusing and convoluted, so it may be best to ignore it on the first play-through and look it up online and follow along for your next time through.
Along your quest you will find bonfires, which act as the games main checkpoint system. Once you light a bonfire and rest at it, this is where your spawn point moves to when you inevitably die. The bonfires are also where all of your leveling up is done. You level up by spending souls which are gained by killing enemies. Souls also act as the games main currency as well, making them the most valuable item in the game. When you die, you leave a bloodstain on the ground to mark your last death. In that bloodstain are all of the souls that you had at your point of death. If you can make it back and touch your bloodstain, you will regain all of your souls; however, if you happen to die on your path back to the bloodstain, those souls are lost forever as your new bloodstain replaces your last. This is where most of the tension in the game comes from, as all of those hard earned souls can vanish if you make a simple mistake on your path to retrieval. Along with the new checkpoint system, Dark Souls introduces the Estus Flask: a healing item that replaces the grass item used in Demon's Souls. They can be upgraded in both quantity and potency, and are refilled by resting at a bonfire. Be warned though, by resting at a bonfire not only will your Estus Flasks be refilled, by all of the enemies will re-spawn. You are encouraged to do this, however, because it is a great way to 'grind' out levels by finding an area where enemies are quickly re-spawned for you to kill them again and collect their delicious souls.
The areas that you visit are quite spectacular. The sheer amount of variety in the areas is shocking, and each of them have their own unique atmosphere and enemies. They can range from a dark and brooding forest, to a bright and brilliant place of royalty, to a virtual swamp of human waste. The level design is brilliant in that it eventually links all of the areas together by unlocking shortcuts. This makes traversing a lot more fun and takes out the monotony of walking through entire areas more than you need to in order to reach others. Dark Souls also does a great job of mixing up the kinds of enemies you will be fighting, and before you become tired of a specific kind of enemy, you're introduced to a new, more threatening kind.
In most cases, a boss will await at the end of these areas. Much like the levels, the boss designs and strategy's are unique and varied. They are absolutely stunning encounters that will keep you on the edge of your seat until their last bit of health is taken off by your weapon of choice. These fights are the real stand out moments in Dark Souls and provide a real sense of achievement when you take one down. Granted, some are harder than others, but all of them are uniformly thrilling. If you have a hard time with a boss, you can also summon either another player, an NPC, or both to help you in the fight. I never found myself stuck at a boss long enough to give up and summon for help, but having played and beaten Demon's Souls might have prepared me a bit more than a new player to the series.
Dark Souls really encourages player choice when it comes to play style. You can be a fully armored sword and shield wielding tank, a scantily clad bow and arrow ranged player, a low health high damage output mage, or some combination of all of them. The combat feels great but may take a little bit of practice to get used to. It is quite weighty and very timing heavy, but the controls are done so well that when a mistake is made, it is at the fault of the player and not the game. While there are classes, they don't confine you to anything. They really only define your starting stats and gear, and from there you can mold your character to how you see fit. A knight, for example, who starts off with low magic skill stats, can eventually spend his souls to level up to a point where magic becomes viable.
To call Dark Souls' armor and weapon variety large would be a disservice. The quantity of weapons and armor would be impressive on its own, by all of it is so thoughtfully crafted that any other game pales in comparison. For my money, the aesthetics of the apparel is top notch. Finding a new armor set or weapon is almost as exciting as defeating a boss. It can completely change up your play style and open up new avenues of experimentation. You're able to upgrade your weapons and armor at blacksmiths found throughout the game by using upgrade stones dropped from enemies. The progression of the upgrades is a lot more streamlined than Demon's Souls, but it can still be confusing at times. Again, don't be opposed to consulting the internet your first time through if you aren't sure.
I have played and beaten both the Playstation 3 and PC versions of Dark Souls. While the console version is competent, technical issues can make some areas of the game nearly unplayable. The frame rate can drop into single digits and can be the cause of some frustrating missteps or deaths. The PC version fixes this issue, as well as supports a mod that helps unlock the games native resolution. In high resolution Dark Souls looks stunning, and the mod is highly stable and recommended.
Dark Souls is one of the most rewarding games this generation, hands down. It is rare to find a game so perfectly crafted in terms of atmosphere and game-play. The only downfall is how confusing it can be to new players, which almost seems like an intentional design choice by the designers. They want you to feel alone and scared, and it is pulled off flawlessly. This isn't a game for someone who likes to pick up and play every now and then- it demands attention and effort for you to able able to succeed. With that in mind, pick up Dark Souls and know that you're about to face one of the most brutal, punishing, and profound games ever made.
