Dark Souls is one hell of a tough game, but not impossible. (Offline review)
The game begins with a somewhat short cut scene that details the history of a land known as Lordran. Long story short, a king discovered Flame, and used it to overpower the almost God like dragons, along with the help of a scale less dragon named Seath. When the war was one, the king, Gwyn, split up an object known as the Lord Soul to his most trusted individuals. However, the First Flame began to die, and, when that happened, the world went completely to hell. Once bustling and populated cities turned barren as the populace became undead monsters, known as Hollows, which is when an undead being goes crazy and homicidal. Now, the once grand kingdom of Lordran is more or less a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
Since all Undeads eventually go Hollow, they are brought to an asylum on a cliff in order to prevent danger befalling the few remaining people who are alive. This is where the game begins. After you create a character by choosing their gender, physique, class (more on that in a bit) and Gift (which is where you choose from a set of items that have various different effects) the game throws you into a jail cell in the asylum, and you are given control. The game gives you a broken sword and the armor of your class to start with, but it isn't long before you gain the shield and weapon of your class. In my case, I chose a Knight, who gets some pretty decent armor and a good sword for the beginning of the game.
The Undead asylum is, essentially, the game's tutorial level, although I say that with the loosest meaning on the word. The most you get is some messages scribbled on the ground about the basics of combat. Basically, all it tells you is the different types of actions at your disposal, like blocking with a shield, running, light attacks, strong attacks, and a few others. However, it doesn't tell you anything about how to use magic, what kind of weapons do what kind of attacks, and much more. This becomes immediately apparent when the game throws its first boss at you. The most help you get is a conveniently placed message detailing how to attack while falling… And even then, it doesn't guarantee victory against the boss.
This reflects how the rest of the game goes. Basically, you are given little to no guidance on where to go and what to do… there is no quest log, no pointing arrow, no context given as to what your overall goal is. The game's way of telling you where to go is, basically, dying. A lot. If you are in a new area, and are being continuously killed in one or two hits, then there's a good chance that there is something else for you to do first. Just what that is is up to you to find out.
Now, I don't dislike the idea of this. It makes it all the more rewarding when you finally figure out how to progress, or where to go. However, playing offline, the game more or less requires a guide to beat, even for the most intrepid and determined player. The way the online is designed is that you will receive hints from other players via messages on the ground. This is good for people with access to online, but for people without, it pretty much means a guide is in order. While nothing in the game is too obtuse, there are a few objectives that are very obscure and nigh impossible to figure out.
While figuring out what to do is a challenge in and of itself, getting there is, in many ways, tougher. Combat is not a guns blazing affair. If you charge into a group of more than two enemies during your first time traveling through an area, there's a very good chance that you will meet with a swift end. You see, Dark Souls is the kind of a game where every action you do requires planning. Attacking an enemy is slow and deliberate, and it eats up your Stamina bar (along with actions like blocking an attack, sprinting and others). Almost no weapon in the game offers a really fast method of attacking, so that means that each swing of your weapon needs to be precise; missing an enemy leaves you wide open, and enemies in this game will take advantage of that. When first traveling through an area, enemies can take you down in a few hits… Of course, assuming you're using a good weapon, you can do the same to them. Really, the game puts you on more or less even ground with enemies, at least early in the game. But this system of deliberate attacks forces you to be careful. When you successfully defeat an enemy, you gain Souls, which can be used for many different tasks, such as leveling up, buying new equipment, upgrading said equipment, or powering up spell casting items.
Of course, you are bound to die in this game. It's not even a matter of "if", just a matter of "when." The game's checkpoint system are things called bonfires. Resting at these restores your amount of healing potions, attune your magic, among other things. If you die, you are sent back to the last bonfire you rested at. However, you lose all the Souls you had in your possession. All is not lost, though. If you can make it back to the area where you died, you can find your Bloodstain, which holds all the souls you lost. The catch is that every time you rest at a bonfire or die, all of the enemies in the area reset. Should you die again while trying to reclaim lost souls, the Bloodstain disappears forever, taking all of your precious souls with it.
This system may seem punishing, but, in reality, it forces you to be careful. Not only does carelessness lead to death, but it can lead to a loss of your lifeblood, since souls are so crucial to character development. It also forces you to make tough decisions… Should you try and reclaim your souls and risk losing them, or should you simply leave and grind for a while in an earlier area? The constant threat of death and loss of progress makes the game incredibly tense; every enemy encounter can either further bolster your character or set you back for hours. Every swing of the sword either brings you one step closer to victory, or one false swing from defeat.
Since the game is challenging, replaying an area a few times will definitely help ease the challenge a bit. It encourages you to learn from your mistakes. But, it's a double edged sword. Since enemies respawn in the same place every time, it leads to repetition, and a lot of it. If you die a lot, you are going to need to fight through the same sets of enemies more times than you may care to. While it's still rewarding to finally reach the next bonfire, getting there can easily turn frustrating and tedious. Of course, if you're playing correctly, you should only die a few times before it finally clicks and you push on through the difficulty. Still, dying over and over can be very discouraging, especially when it's on a boss that required you to fight through ten minutes of the level. Almost any player is bound to be frustrated at some point while playing this game… I know there were more than a few instances of four letter words being hurled at the screen.
The high level of challenge also leads to a high level of reward. There is an overwhelming sense of satisfaction from finally delivering the deathblow to one of the hulking monstrosities of the bosses, or form earning enough souls to final level up. Granted, this feeling is soon shattered when you decide to stop basking in the glow of victory and move on, but the feeling of accomplishment is one of the driving forces of the game.
Despite the odds often being stacked against you, there are plenty of opportunities to try and even them a bit, since the game offers in depth customization. For instance, the fact that the game gives you the choice of what class to start as is a little misleading. Every time you level up, you can increase a certain attribute by one. That means that, if you start off as a mage, you could theoretically end the game as a tank character who can wield all manner of weapons, or a fast character that uses critical attacks to win. It all depends on how you upgrade your statistics.
On top of triumphing against bad odds and upgrading your character, the simple fun of exploring the highly varied world is a good reason to keep playing. Each area is incredibly distinct in its feeling and atmosphere. For instance, the Undead Burg is just what it sounds like… A city long taken over by the undead. Another area is a dark, oppressive and rickety old city in the sewers of Lordran, created by mutated freaks. The visuals do a lot to help keep the variety coming, thanks to the strong artistic design of everything. Enemies, architecture, armor, weapons all look great. The sound, on the other hand, is consisted mostly of the sounds of battle and some very subtle ambient music. It all sounds fine, but is also somewhat forgettable.
Aside from a few problems with the game's structure, the technical side of things tends to be shoddy at times. There are a few areas in the game where the frame rate takes a noticeable dip, and may sometimes even freeze for a second or two. Also, there may be times where the camera gets caught up on something, causing a tough to see perspective. Also, the lock on camera is can be a problem at times. Later in the game, there's an area with huge enemies who can hit you when you can't hit them, or target them, which leads to frustration when you're trying to run away but can't shield their attacks. There are a few other inconsistencies here and there, too. They are rare when they happen, so they are mostly forgivable, but it can still be frustrating when you're in the heat of battle and the camera suddenly goes weird, causing you to fall off the narrow ledge you're standing on.
Overall, Dark Souls is an RPG worth playing for those who really want a challenge. The rewarding challenge, precise and deliberate combat and the good visual design/ atmosphere makes it more than good enough for die hard RPG fans. However, the game isn't for everyone, since the very way the game is structured leads to repetition and often times frustration. There are also some noticeable technical foibles, and sometimes the game goes from "challenging" to "cheap" (the Curse status halves your max HP until you get it cured, and it stacks, which means you could be running around with a quarter of your total HP with no way of fixing it). Despite these issues I have with the game, Dark Souls is well worth the time and effort. So long and thanks for reading.