5/5 ★ – AllieN7's review of Dark Souls.

“And then, there was fire.” Spoilers for pretty much the entirety of Dark Souls and the final boss/ending of Demon’s Souls. Very few video game experiences can quite match the highs of Dark Souls 1, out of all the games I’m willing to slap the “masterpiece” label onto I feel like this is easily one of the most flawed ones especially as it goes into it’s latter half, but my god when this game shines it really shines, at it’s best Dark Souls is a true masterclass at combining so many game mechanics and elements into each other from both gameplay and story standpoints creating some of the most satisfying and beautiful moments I’ve ever experienced in gaming. Dark Souls is extremely intimidating at first, especially if you’re new to FromSoftware’s work, it opens up with Undead Asylum which I think perfectly introduces and reinforces the core game mechanics, tools, and lessons in need to progress. It pretty much immediately has you running from the Asylum Demon as you can’t do much damage with the broken sword, showing that yes, this game is hard but if something seems too difficult it’s best to find a different way to approach the situation or even in some cases that it’s okay to run and come back later when you have better tools, and by showing the player that careful observation of their surroundings will help them succeed, as observation and quick reaction time is needed to find the door to escape, it also shows you how interconnected the world and level design will be by having the level run back into itself to the previously mentioned Asylum Demon and making you actually fight it after giving you the necessary items to take on the monster. Also giving you the ability to take out 1/3 of his health bar with the plunging attack giving you some extra confidence in what would otherwise be a pretty discouraging fight this early on. It’s a great tutorial level, and sets the tone and world up so perfectly. Upon arriving at Firelink Shrine the game’s interconnected world opens up and you can go wherever you please but the intended destination is Undead Burg/Parish as when you’re dropped off into the area it’s pretty well highlighted though I have heard some funny horror stories of people going into the wrong place and getting destroyed by skeletons at the graveyard. There’s so many small moments of Dark Soul’s pure level design brilliance here such as the somewhat hidden with loot near the start, the reward isn’t really much but it’s a nice touch to show the player their exploration will be worth it, and the slow introduction to the mechanics of ambushes as small groups of enemies try to lead you into them is great, the early game does a fantastic job at teaching you pretty much everything you need to do without punishing you too hard for failure, and I remember the exact moment and feeling I felt after finding the elevator that lead me straight back to Firelink after defeating the Bell Gargoyles and ringing the first bell, it reveals how truly masterful this world’s unique design will be, it adds such a sense of freedom and endlessness without ever feeling too massive for it’s own good or falling into the traps of a lot of fully open world games, you can walk in any direction and immediately be in a vastly different area with it’s own enemies and uniqueness, the gorgeous art direction and unique looking levels filled with atmospheric and beauty makes finding every area a breathtaking experience no matter what stage of the game you’re at, and the mental gymnastics of figuring out where you’re currently at, what path you have to take to either progress or get back to a previous location for something you need is such a satisfying challenge in itself. I’m not going to break down what I love about every location like I did the first few but the quality of level design is felt throughout the game’s first half and continues to find new ways to surprise. The forest of Darkroot Gardens, the death trap funhouse of Sen's fortress, Anor Londo, hell even the poison swamp of Blighttown are such awesome places to explore and the fact you can so often see future locations from your current one makes everything feel so connected and alive, so many jaw dropping locations that always invoke feelings of loneliness, dread, pain, and mystery, and the lack of loading screens between it all is impressive and the scale of each location feels realistic and believable enough to be a real place and the overall layout of the entire world also feels logical and believable as Lordran feels like a real place. Combat can feel very janky, dated, and sometimes even pretty inconsistent at first, but there’s a certain charm to it and overcoming the slow paced sword combat and enemy attack patterns, achieving even the smallest of victories or milestones can feel incredibly rewarding especially if you’re in a rough spot and are starting to feel a little discouraged to continue. The results of each action are immediate as it can only take a few hits to completely kill you but it feels fair as each enemy also takes only a few hits to destroy and every attack can be avoided in someway either by blocking with a shield, dodging by rolling, or just cheeseing the game with a bow or magic. The 3 core gameplay pillars of exploration, combat, and boss fights make up a solid foundation for the experience but the actual execution of it all is incredibly impressive. Starting each zone with a bonfire basically acting as a checkpoint as you are given an area to explore and master. You are sent back to a bonfire if you die but you are given the opportunity to open shortcuts by kicking down ladders, unlocking doors, or finding other ways to skip having to redo parts of the level, every item such as weapons, armor, soul items, or keys are saved to your inventory with the only real consequence of death outside of having to redo parts is the loss of souls but the ability to get your souls back only once can be an incredibly tense yet satisfying process. The interconnected over world is also the same as some doors early on can’t be opened but after finishing certain sections you open them from the other side later on allowing you to get back to certain levels more easily and sometimes secret paths do this same thing. The way this game’s level design balances it all out with the Estus Flask system is wonderful as it leads into the 3 core systems as it’s your main source of healing, meaning it dictates how far you can get in one location before you need to recharge them at a bonfire. The main goal of each location is to get through it with using as little Flasks as possible as you need them for the boss fight at the end. There’s a real satisfying loop of risk and reward at the heart of Dark Souls’ progression and this system can also be a great indicator at how much better you’re getting as you start to need to heal less and less and you find yourself going back to the starting bonfire way less often. Even the smallest of mistakes or encounters with low level enemies can mean death and the game fully rewards careful play and I fully think this healing system is the best decision Fromsoft made from Demom’s Souls to Dark Souls as it elevates everything. Pretty much everyone who has played Dark Souls has mentioned the game’s drop off in quality once the 2nd half rolls in, and yeah it’s true, this game definitely loses a lot of the genus level design and polish the first half had but I don’t think the game ever loses it’s charm and it never becomes unbearable as the core system remains the same. The hunt for the 4 Lord Souls feels like such an epic event for an adventure in the late game but the locations these bosses take place lack a lot of the elements that made the early game areas so great. Demon Ruins/Lost Izalith kinda throws out the clever enemy placement in favor for just pure randomness making some of it look like test rooms that got left in, like someone just clicked randomly on a level editing software and called it a day so the game could be shipped in time, not to mention the many boss battles that take place here are easily some of my least favorite in the game. Bed Of Chaos in particular being my absolute least favorite, no matter how good you are at running or jumping it just feels so luck based that it becomes so frustrating trying to avoid his swaps, it does get a few points for saving progress every time you hit one of it’s arms though. I would say The Tomb of the Giants might have the crown for my least favorite section honestly, it isn’t absolutely terrible and I do enjoy the boss that comes at the end but the gimmick of having to use a light source to make your way around the Tomb feels more repetitive and annoying than it is challenging and all the challenge that does come from the incredibly strong enemies down there just feels hard for the sake of it rather than being a fair fight as you can’t see anything and it’s very easy to just fall off and die. I do really like The Duke's Archives but I also find the boss somewhat disappointing and I hate the fake out at the start which has you respawning at a completely different bonfire, the game is just breaking it’s own established rules for the sake of the level which is something I find extremely frustrating from a design standpoint and the fact you need to swing your weapon through a wall to kill the enemy to escape just feels like unnecessary trolling as you cannot do that at any other point in the game, but the location and it being essentially the height of the game makes it feel very meaningful and the amount of strong enemies to overcome and the atmosphere is fantastic. Crystal Cave is also really cool. Sure, the first half isn’t prefect either, I kinda hate the dragon that guards the bridge between the Undead Burg and Undead Parish, I think the archers at Anor Londo are really annoying, and the Capra Demon’s boss arena is the size of a shoe box making the fight incredibly unfair if you don’t know what you’re getting yourself into, but the game had so much more consistency and attention to detail in the first half that the transition is just very jarring. This downgrade in level and open word design is why I believe they give you the ability to fast travel about halfway through as I don’t see it as a coincidence that the wrap is unlocked at the same time the game’s levels take a dip. While on the topic of late game ares I do have to admit I adore Ash Lake and Painted World of Ariamis, not technically late game places since you can visit them whenever and they are completely optional but I found them near the end of my run and I just can’t get over how great they are. Ash Lake isn’t long or even that difficult but it feels like such a nice breath of fresh air after everything and entering it for the first time is almost unlike anything else I’ve seen in a video game. Painted World might be my favorite place in the entire game, it returns to the more interconnected design of the early game with it’s shortcuts and how it runs back into itself but it also has such a beautiful atmosphere and art design, it’s such a cool reward for finding it and I honestly feel bad for any Dark Souls player who may of missed it which I can only assume is a lot considering how hard it is to unlock. Unlike Demon’s Souls the boss fights feel way less reliant on gimmicks and more on actual fights and the bosses are a lot of fun here, and most of them rather difficult especially on a first run. My personal favorites from the base game were definitely The Four Kings, Gwyn, Sif, and Ornstein/Smough. Nearly every fight (there’s a few reskins) even the annoying ones are extremely memorable as the boss arenas and fights themselves are very unique and different to one another and dying to these fights aren’t nearly as frustrating as they would be because you’ve most likely unlocked shortcuts around the level making the boss run not take too terribly long. The story is very subtle and can often be lost if you’re not paying close attention, hell it can even be extremely confusing if you are paying 110 percent attention to every detail, so much of Dark Soul’s narrative relies on the player making their own beliefs and theories on what’s truly happening at times, even taken at face value there’s so much to love about the vagueness of the writing, it’s really on a entirely other level if you fully immerse yourself in this game’s world and lore, but no matter how you treat this game’s main story I feel it will never leave your mind, you can know every bit of lore or absolutely nothing and it’ll be just as effective just in different ways. There’s a reason this game is so praised for storytelling and out of the FromSoft games I’ve played I think this has my favorite narrative. It could have so easily been a complete misfire as so many games without simple, straightforward storylines are as they usually rely on cheap lazy writing in hopes the player puts everything together for themselves but Dark Souls does it in such a way that feels so rewarding and deep. Climbing my way out from Blighttown only to be treated to the comfort of Firelink once again, going to Sen's Fortress to make my way through all the death traps only end up in Anor Londo, a city that from the very surface feels so unique and separated from everything else but in reality is just as dark and depressing as the rest of Lordran is such a series of joyful and beautiful moments, my god, even with all it’s flaws and annoying level design at times this thing is such a joy and blast to experience to the point I can look past everything and still feel like this game deserves a spot among the all time greats. And the world is so elevated by the use of sound effects, you only hear music at a handful of moments in the world such as Firelink Shrine or Ash Lake or during boss fights, that when you do hear the game’s incredible score it feels so much more impactful. Like the comforting feelings of safety the Firelink theme brings or the sense of horror the Four Kings track gives as you’re surrounded by pure blackness not sure what the hell is even happening. But for the most part you’re so immersed by the sound of your boots hitting the floor, or your armor as you roll, or the sounds the many enemies make as you slay them, it’s such an atmospheric experience with top tier sound design. I think the part of the game that maybe stood out most to me is the final boss, I made my way to the fog wall expecting an epic fight with a score that would end this game on an epic high note like any other game or even some previous bosses, but as soon as I heard the tragic piano start to play I immediately realized there is no real triumph or victory here, you see what Gwyn the final boss has become, you’re killing someone who is basically already dead and is holding onto every last bit of light and power he can, rejecting the coming era of darkness and his own failures, it reminds me so much of Demom Soul’s final battle where you face the true King Allant, after defeating his false form who is easily one of the hardest bosses in that game, you almost expect something even more insane and difficult only to be faced with a black deformed blob holding a legendary sword he can’t even hit you with half the time as he barely moves towards you. It’s such a fantastic subversion of expectations set by other RPG games and I think both Dark Souls and Demon’s Souls pull off this concept wonderfully. This final fight really put into perspective how masterful this game’s story is, it’s sad, it’s depressing, it’s tragic and it’s done with next to no dialogue. I didn’t know how to feel after rolling credits and beating the game, the nameless song reinforced everything and really made me think about the entire thing all together. I don’t fully understand this game, I don’t know every bit of lore, I don’t know why some things even happen, all I know is this isn’t just a action fantasy game with hard bosses, this is a work of pure art that deserves to be celebrated, I already can’t wait to play it again.