4.5/5 ★ – Serpster's review of Dark Souls: Remastered.

And then, there was fire. A fire that sparked my love for this incredible franchise. Dark Souls was unfortunately not my introduction to the Souls franchise, that was Elden Ring. But even still, playing through this old game still made me feel nostalgic and hyped to check out the rest of a franchise that's ended for years now. When I first played this, it was HARD. In fact, I remember rage-quitting and saying I'm done playing this game for good like 4 times and yet, I kept coming back. I just couldn't resist trying to overcome the challenge, and shit did it feel good to achieve victory. The world design is great, all the areas connect very fluidly and the progression feels very nice. The combat even felt pretty good, though maybe a little dated. And then there's the story. As an avid enthusiast of rich storytelling in gaming, I fell in love with the story of Dark Souls. Miyazaki loves hiding details in the items and dialogue of characters, making you feel accomplished for uncovering details of the story yourself, as if you're discovering a lost tale, and some things are intentionally left out so the player can come up with their own interpretations, which I love. The only real issues with this game are that some bosses have most definitely aged and were a pain in the ass, and not in a fun way. Also, many bosses had pretty annoying runs from the checkpoints back to the bosses (gravelord nito cough cough. But for a game this old, not even many modern games can replicate the incredible craftsmanship Fromsoft put in. This is without a doubt a game everyone should play. An incredible gaming experience that I'm so happy to have finally indulged in.