Dark Souls, man. It’s always there, at the periphery of so many conversations about great games. This game is like Dark Souls, and that game wishes it were as good as Dark Souls, and hey, have you played Dark Souls?
Just about two years ago, I republished the below essay by writer Chris Dahlen about what makes Dark Souls so special. In it, he performs a detailed autopsy of the in-game area Sen’s Fortress, and in the process paints a picture of a fantastically well-constructed game.
I’ve recently been engrossed by The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, and more than other recent games in that series it’s reminded me how much Zelda there is in Dark Souls‘ DNA. (And yeah, I really should have bumped this article up for part of our Last-Gen Heroes series, but I didn’t, so here we are. Though we did name the Souls games as a series that defined the last generation of gaming.)
Give it a read, relive Sen’s Fortress, and watch out for mimics.
Comments
19 responses to “Why Everyone Still Talks About Dark Souls”
Slightly misleading title: Besides a couple of friends, nobody that I know even has a clue what Dark Souls is. 🙁
Type Dark Souls into youtube or tumblr. It’s fanbase is far-reaching, and rabid, and awesome.
Type pretty much anything into youtube or tumblr and you will find a rabid fanbase.
like sock sniffing for instance
I’m definitely taking your word for that.
It was just an example of “pretty much anything that could very well have a rabid fanbase. Personally, I dont partake in that particular hobby. With that said, It seems like jrpgfan felt somewhat mocked. No offense intended by my remarks and particularly to anyone who likes sniffing socks. :p
My favourite write up about Dark Souls was by the Brainy Gamer. He 100% nailed why Dark Souls is so good. When you go past how the game looks or the depth of the lore which is buried in it, the thing that just makes it so good is that its a game that is built so well and so precise, that it gives you the chance to not just complete it, but to master it. Every encounter is dangerous and therefore demands your attention and respect, but through that challenge the game actually then gives you far more respect that any other game manages to do.
http://www.brainygamer.com/the_brainy_gamer/2011/10/soul-dojo.html
I can’t friggan wait for part 2!
…Never played it
Why is Dark Souls so good? Two words “Difficult” and “fair”.
I still haven’t finished the game (mainly because I play like an hour every couple of weeks…) and I feel the game is immensely difficult. However, 99% of the time I feel that death is a result of my impatience and clever AI fighting (even if the AI is formulaic) as opposed to most other AAA games where enemies are buffed, you are nerfed, or you get spammed till you die at higher difficulty settings.
The reason people keep talking about it is because it’s one of the rare games released in todays market that was designed for gamers!
and not designed for some Dudebro to play during a kegger.
Great timing, I hadn’t seen that article before and I just beat Sen’s on NG+ the other night. I’ve got a backlog of games as long as my arm, but Souls keeps skulking into my brain and demanding I play it some more. I don’t have any other person in my circle of friends on or offline who have finished it. That saddens me, but it also gives me ample reason to never shut up about it. There is NOTHING like Souls, no other game is as rewarding, and – in my mind – no other lore is as interesting. Bring on March.
I guess I was one of the few that didn’t enjoy the game. I got upto that Spider Queen Queeelag or something and killed her and was not really enjoying myself? I might need to give it another try. I just had very little motivation to continue on at the time. I will say that the boss fights were pretty fun and tough at times. Finally killing that stupid Capra Demon was very satisfying
I’m currently on my fourth playthrough (new character). It’s my favourite game of the generation. tied only with Demon’s Souls and i’m sure DaS2 will be my GoTY for 2014.
OH man does dark souls bring back some good memories (RAGE) haha, February this year I finished it for the 3rd run through on a new character and it’s great when you play a game like dark souls and it still feels as if its a new and mysterious game.
I recently got it for PC.
2 minutes in and I’m already waiting (ebay) for a Xbox/pc controller
Eager to play (the 2minutes I got to play seemed awesome enough) but seriously the worst console to PC port ever.
I tried getting into both demon souls and dark souls multiple times, but it just didn’t feel right. Must just be me as I hear all these good things about it but it just never gripped me.
I’ve played and finished this game and it’s a tough son of a bitch, but with massive depth and infinite replayability
It has one fatal flaw though in that it’s literally plagued with hackers online who can invade your world and kill you if you play the game in human form.
The game itself is incredible, from start to end.
The social interaction with the game (both co-op and PvP) are downright horrible as an experience.
Otherwise, one of the best games of the last generation.
I’m not a dudebro or a filthy casual, but I hate hard games. Rarely do I get a sense of satisfaction from finally defeating some enemy after dying a million times, more a sense of “about fucking time!”.
Besides, these days I don’t as much gaming time as I’d like, so I rather spend it experiencing the story and exploring as many nooks and crannies as I can, rather than replaying the same goddammed boss fight for the umpteenth time. I would never play something like Skyrim and anything above easy.
Finished Demon’s Souls 3 or 4 times I think and Dark Souls on PS3+360 3 times. Loved the DLC and won’t ever be selling them. Absolute classics up there with Ocarina of Time, Majoras Mask etc for me.