User Review : Dark Souls

Despite some flaws and poor choices in design, the game stands strong and redefines the genre.

Dark Souls is an action RPG by From Software. In it, you are thrust in the roll of an undead human, seeking to regain their humanity and bring life back to the world of Lordran. Catering to “hardcore” gamers; the game combines intense physics based combat, a high level of difficulty, and memorable bosses to create an experience that is different from many games today. Despite some flaws and poor choices in design, the game stands strong and redefines the genre.

Following the classic theme of light vs. dark; the game’s setting is dark and dead, balanced by an underlying tone of revival. The game has an overall gothic style that gives it diversity among other fantasy games. Environments look amazing. Places like The Depths, an underground sewer system, creates an atmosphere of dread while playing. Whereas traversing to prettier places, like Anor Londo, have breathtaking beauty. I thought the stark contrast in settings really helped the experience, as I was never bored with the level design. The atmosphere is reinforced by its soundtrack that evolves with the areas and encounters I found myself in.

Dark Soul’s combat system is rather crisp, and takes a large deal of skill to execute properly. Players must learn their opponents and react accordingly to succeed. Each hit on an enemy feels visceral and rewarding. The game grounds with physics and your actions feel believable. Weapons are unique and act as you would imagine in the real world. Armor encumbrance is also prevalent as your character can get bogged down by heavy gear. Dark Soul’s takes it a step further and actually changes up character animations and actions based on the factors above. Combat is enhanced by a leveling up and gear crafting system that allows players to advance their character and gear in parallel.

Boss monsters are the crux of the challenge in the game. They are beautifully detailed and truly stuff out of nightmares. The bosses are a great example of enemy design. Each one felt unique to their specific level and is equipped with unique abilities and weaknesses. Bosses instill a sense of intimidation. Fighting them requires patience, reflexes, and the ability to critically analyse attack patterns. Killing them granted myself a great sense of power and accomplishment. Many players find these bosses to be too difficult. The designers do allow you to “summon” friends to the game. This allows players to play co-op to defeat monsters or challenge each other in duels. This summoning feature married well with the message system developers created, allowing other players to leave “hints” and short messages for you to find.

In my opinion the game falls short in a few places. Some animations were not as smooth as others; actions like parrying and backstabbing destroy the flow of combat. I felt minor enemies and characters could use a bit more detail. Some game design mechanics are also worrisome. A few character stats are useless or never explained. Overpowered weapons lead to imbalanced PvP. I also disliked that a large portion of the story is not revealed to player without heavy exploration.

Overall, I think Dark Souls is an amazing game, but it is not for everyone.

Play if you:
- Are looking for a game that is different and difficult.
- Want an atypical action RPG with over 30+ hrs of gameplay.
- Like Monster Hunter and Shadow of the Colossus.

Pass if you:
-Want to avoid frustration. Seriously. I “quit” the game twice before finishing it.
-Seeking an open world RPG or something with a strong story.
-Tend to prefer games like Call of Duty or League of Legends. Game shines in single-player not multiplayer.

My recommendation(score for comparison): Play! 9/10