A masterpiece that embraces less-is-more philosophy
Dark Souls is a parasitic game. With a cold opening to a world that is not so much in media res as it is hanging by a thread for survival, Dark Souls tells you the mechanical basics and the barest of information to set you on your quest. This quest sticks with you long after you turn the game off for the night. You replay scenarios in your mind and you obsess over an obtuse, but immensely rewarding lore. It grows like a shadow in your mind over your thoughts until the final release of completion. Completion, but not necessarily victory
Dark Souls is a game about dread. It dares to pose philosophical questions, and answer them in ways that can leave the player feeling hollow at the cold, uncaring nature of the presented reality. This game tells you that life is suffering, that the reward for perseverance is more hardship, and when you die, no one cares. It is a bleak, almost damning incitement at first. As the game progresses, you, the player, begin to realize that while this world doesn't care about your character, you do. Rarely in a game have I so fishy desired success for my character's quest. Every death was a frustration the two of us shared together, but every time he rose from a bonfire to try again, it filled me with the hope to run the gauntlet again. This game fills you with dread, because around every corner is death. It makes you cherish being alive, and more than that cherish the fleeting moments of peace and tranquility that we can muster.
People often say that games, and especially genre games can't ask the big questions or deal with issues in any kind of meaningful way as long as your character is casting fireballs and fighting a wolf with the sword in her mouth. However, through the lens of the absurdity of some of these situations are heartbreaking tales of loneliness, despair, desire, sadism, neglect, and desperation. The world of Lordran is dying, and everyone in the game knows it. Yet they cling to whatever small bits of life they have, because giving up is far worse.
Dark Souls took me 80 hours to complete. A lot of RPGs, I feel the weight of the grind in the long hours I spend playing them. Dark Souls gives me a different weight. Dark Souls, through its hours of frustration promised me one thing at the beginning, that it wouldn't apologize, and it never did. It was unflinching and uncompromising in its vision. I am pleased to have visited the world of Lordan, from the horrors of the Undead Burg, to the vomit-inducing Blightown, from the diabolical Sen's Fortress to the heartbreaking Anor Londo, from the terrifying unknown of the Tomb of the Giants to the all to clearly spelled out terror of New Londo. Dark Souls has something surprising around every corner. This game makes you work for the pay off, but if you stick with it, if you rise to the challenge before you, then you will come out not only a better gamer, but I believe a more thoughtful person.
