@olle_bsson YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT!!!! I was telling a friend of mine recently that while it's labeled as an action RPG, there is most certainly a sense of fear and intense survival driven fear in the Souls series. In Demon's Souls, the Tower of Latria serves as a perfect example. In Dark Souls, the very first playthrough of The Tomb of The Giants leaves one speechless (I was "fortunate" enough to first traverse that area playing in with the lights out). Not to mention the tension of being in a new area with a ton of Souls that you so eagerly hope to avoid losing.
From the Atari and NES days, it made sense to push for more graphics and power to expand on what can be done inside the world of the game. Today's CPU's allow so much virsatility that we don't need so much focus on visuals.
If you take a look at what the other posters are saying, I don't stand alone. In fact, it seems to be the popular thought. MGS4 was beautiful (upon release) but it was the gameplay that made it outstanding. For all the Dark Souls fans, remember the very FIRST time playing the Tomb of The Giants? There is a stretch that is completely immersive and the screen is pitch black. That is a perfect examply of fantasy, immersion, and gameplay really being the core of a great gaming experience.
Personally, I don't see the need for a new gen of consoles in the immediate future. The whole "stunning visuals" has long since been overrated in my book because enjoying the gaming experience (gameplay, story, style) is what really matters.
Dark Souls is not the "original" that everyone should be mentioning in regards to difficulty. Demons' Souls was punishing, very weird, and gave you a sense of abandonment (not to mention a splash of fear) and all of these things worked together well. It was a tad bit on the "quirky" side, but a game I grew to love. Dark Souls is actually a lot less difficult than the original! Dark Souls has nothing like trudging through a poisonous swamp while being chased yb Giant enemies who are immune and can actually run in that lethal gunk! AND IT HAD NO BONFIRES!!!
However, Dark Souls still had it's fair share of tension and challenge.
I totally disagree with the idea of making it more "straight forward" (linear???), and "more understandable" better simply mean the option to dig deeper into numerous NPC's background for clarification of something they said.
Dark Souls is one of the best games I've ever played, period. This is not just an RPG or action adventure game. It's difficulty forces you to value each life, especially when you don't want to lose a large amount of souls that you've collect. In a sense, that very aspect of gameplay gives this game a bit of a "survival" feel. It is every bit worth trying and I would recommend you play it at night in the dark, ESPECIALLY the Tomb of Giants! :-)
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