Challenge, that’s the best word to describe From Software’s most recent title, Dark Souls. A spiritual successor to the vaguely known Demons Souls, this title brings some new, noteworthy changes but keeps the aggravation that the series has gotten a reputation for. For new players, the motto of the game “Prepare to die” is the best advice to follow, but veterans of Demons Souls will be met with more bosses and new enemies to sharpen their skills.
Story-telling won’t be something that describes Dark Souls, seeing as they just drop you in their world and have you run around in fear. It’s nice to see some effort at the beginning cutscene but after that it’s just you versus the world of Dark Souls, and you should be prepared to feel alone the whole time. Regardless of the lack of story development, players will have memories to share with friends.
Memories might be all you have left to share, especially when you first encounter the Hellkite, a large red dragon that will meet you at a bridge. Countless moments happen in Dark Souls that will keep you on your toes, and in shock. Actually, memory is kind of the game here when it comes to this game, having you learn the patterns and layouts of enemies.
Never fear though, even the toughest opponents are taking down a notch with the use of spells. Unlike its predecessor, you don’t have a meter to casts spells, but to make the game a little tougher each spell has limited uses. No more casting away and just refilling your meter with an item, now you have to be careful of which spells to cast and when. Luckily, your spell-count is refilled at bon-fires, which are Dark Souls checkpoints.
Bonfires will be your savior in Dark Souls, leaving you with a place to rest and be free of danger. When you die, you will return to the last bonfire rested at, be fully healed and replenished while being able to level up using the souls you gathered. Souls control everything you do in the game, whether it’s buying items, leveling your stats up, or modifying equipment that you have obtained.
Weapons and armor can be found lying around or earned as drops through defeating enemies. Each piece of equipment can be upgraded to increase its stats, but be careful of what you decide to wear because weight will affect your characters speed. Luckily, you can hold an endless amount of items in your inventory so it’s never a pain to switch to another set of gear to fit a situation. Better gear will help even the lesser skilled in overcoming the obstacles in Dark Souls so it’s nice to have a variety available.
As nice as your gear might be, the environments and enemies will always outshine. The backdrops are beautiful at some points, even though I believe the inclusion of sunlight seems like it takes away the despair and loneliness feel that Demons Souls gave players. However, the real detail of Dark Souls is the enemy design, with a huge variety of them laying in wait to give you death. They tried to pull out all the stops and didn’t just reuse the same mob with a fresh new coat of paint in different areas, which is nice to see in a RPG.
“You Died” will be the screen every Dark Souls player will see multiple times, leaving you to decide what to do differently before returning to get your souls or that shiny item in the distance. Are you a player that will be up to that kind of challenge? That’s really what this game is about, overcoming death. For most, the game is aggravating and extremely rewarding, but will not be for a casual player in the least. Luckily, there are some good tips online on defeating bosses and certain enemies, which you can check out my personal
YouTube here for some tips and advice. Tell me what you think about Dark Souls in the comments down below, or share some of your memorable moments from the game.
Final Score 8/10
No comments:
Post a Comment