4/5 ★ – EthanFord99's review of Dark Souls III: Deluxe Edition.

My first Fromsoft game! Good memories. Well, not really — before the Souls formula “clicked” for me it was a LOT of frustration and dying to stupid stuff — but it’s charming to look back on now that I’m way past the other end of that. Figuring out how to play these games came in waves, because once I beat a boss I felt like I could just kill anything in my way, and then I immediately fell back into old habits and got my ass kicked until I learned the same lessons again. I think it finally stuck after I lost to Sulyvahn for the 70th time: this game does not pity you, and it certainly isn’t going to accommodate you. The strength and challenge that everything in this game carries is unshakable, and if you don’t stop trying to change the beat of its drum and start trying to learn the rhythm, you will have a very hard and probably a very bad time. I think it’s easy to say that Dark Souls “doesn’t care about you,” but I don’t think that’s true. It’s not that the game wants you to lose. In fact, the game is happy for you to win! It’s difficult, but it isn’t underhanded or unfair (well… usually) and it eagerly rewards success and exploration. It’s just a game with a very clear vision of what it wants to be, and it’s not willing to compromise its identity to keep the player playing the game. If they don’t click, that’s fine—you’re not shamed for moving on and playing something else either. It’s unwavering not because it doesn’t respect you for struggling, but because it respects your capacity to overcome the struggle. All that being said, that one night with the enchanted greatsword in Lothric Castle can eat shit. What a jackass.