I messed up. I rented Dark Souls back when it came out and didn't get a lot out of it. I played, I was having fun, I liked the controls and feeling, I loved that first encounter with the asylum demon where I ran around laughing as he shattered the pots (I even beat him up a little bit) before finding the exit, and then I got stuck shortly after around those 2 grunts and the archer. It just felt cheap to me, I died to little to no hits, and there was a guy shooting me while other cornered and stabbed me. I gave it some tries, came close when I exploited the AI, but never really made it passed them. I also unfairly never went back, I think I was busy playing some other games at the time and didn't give the game any try but that one play through. Well I've been bugged by my conscience and upon repeatedly seeing the game brought up, and now I've decided to dive back into it and got it yesterday evening. Glad I made that choice. I have no idea what I was doing wrong before, but I got by that stuck part instantly and I've been making my way through bosses, and gaurds, and have learned and understand the game for what it is. I also don't think I've played anything ever quite like it before. Sure it has a ton of familiar elements, but the way its executed is something entirely different... its kind of like a reverse COD in where that took a bunch of familiar elements and crafted possibly the first (and still one of the best) casual FPS, Dark Souls takes a lot of familiar elements and makes it into a brick wall you need to punch down with your bare hands. However its the possibly one of the first brutally hard games that is fair and fun for the most part.
First off let me tell you what I'm used to by "hard" games.... its sort of like what I was saying about past older games compared to today's difficulty. Games haven't always been getting "easier" its just that a lot of the "hard" ones are mostly obsolete and were never hard in a fair way. Many were down to 2D and sidescrolling or beat 'em up style gameplay that boiled down to getting your reflexes and memory on par to the game's enemy or projectile spam count. Oh and very few buttons. So yeah it basically came down to luck or be perfect or die type gameplay. With RPGs it was probably ridiculous stat based difficulty. Dark Souls is fair and consistent in its idea of making everything pretty tough, but also giving the player a ton of true control and options. You have a say in how your character fights with alternating swings and stances, and how you block or dodge, all while your common enemy has pretty much the exact same thing. The game puts you in a situation where you have to learn the enemy types and their common tactics, you have to manage your equipment, and you have to outwit and overcome them with better timing and use of your tactics and equipment. Considering they can mostly do what you can, every enemy can put you in a tense situation and poses a threat, but you can bypass most quickly when you see their AI goofing up. Often you'll find yourself exploiting enemy triggers, or even the environment to win your fights easier... though honestly if you don't, you wont get far as eventually your even put into situations where the developers really expect you to exploit your opponents. Its a game that challenges you fairly, but also makes you think outside the box in this way.
Now where it gets really tough to a point where I'm not sure I love or hate it is the whole resource catch. You collect souls along the way which is pretty much XP and cash at the same time. Very valuable and a must for leveling up or maintaining items. Well you lose it all during your inevitable deaths. If you can get back to the same spot as before, you get it all back. However die before you can get back and you lose it all for good and get stuck with whatever dramatically lower count you died with then. Between this, and the very limited use of checkpoints with bonfires... its really a stretch to make it count and get far in a game like this, and if you die you can't simply level up to get better with the XP you earned... you need to go through hell again to get your XP back! The bonfire checkpoints also have a clever knack to restore you health at the cost of resetting enemies, so its not like you can exploit a path and checkpoint save it.... that just restocks you and makes you do it all again. Oh! Lets not forget that the primary health potion is something that also only restocks at the bonfire. So pretty much every.... single..... injury you take is a brutal reminder that you might not be able to make your journey this round. This entire combination is pretty brutal, and borderlines on something a bit too punishing. Personally I wouldn't mind an "easy" mode that halves this penalty system a bit, because beyond that the game would still be challenging and fun but with less wasted time. Its a little too time consuming and you wind up making little progress along long spans of time because of this soul system. However its not a game breaker, and might even be the strength and provides a will to keep on trying to make that push and take that risk to get back to your souls. Again, the game is also pretty fair for the most part. I suppose one hit kill bosses and occasional enemy hic-ups make for some unfair bits, but most of the game is designed around tight suspense, fair combat, and a feeling of true accomplishment whenever you do make it to the next shortcut piece that makes your time between bonfires that much easier.
Overall I've got to give this game a lot of credit, and I've only talked about and explained the difficulty and its basics. I haven't explained how awesome it is that the world sort of resonates with me in its earthy and gothic medieval tones, or how its lore is set up so interestingly, or just the creative premise of it all. Its a brilliantly designed game, and despite its punishing penalty and strong tension, I'm really enjoy making those pushes to the next big. I'm staying determined, and I'm not getting mad unless I hit an unfair bit, but honestly the souls are just a number I keep getting back and losing but its just a number in a game... its not worth any anger and because of how deep the game's mechanics and interactions go it is a totally enjoyable experience that makes getting through it fun. I made a mistake to reject this game, I just wish I could progress faster now. So... sorry dark souls, now let me live darn it!
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