5/5 ★ – bokonon764's review of Dark Souls.

I finally beat this beast of a game. This was my third attempt, just figured I’d give another shot, bein a huge fan of Fromsoftware games in general. I’m glad I came back to it. It’s got a lot of flaws, but it’s an undeniable, game-changing, genre-defining, masterpiece. Because of the difficulty, and shall we say, opaqueness, it’s not for everyone. You almost have to look up guides online if you want to experience everything the games world has to offer, or even finish the game. I did a little less guide reading for this play through, and wound up missing npc events for side quests, which sucks. The npc side quests in this game, and every other Fromsoft title, are fucking brilliant. So sparse in their storytelling, yet each adding to the mosaic of lore. Such a rich world is created in a unique way, asking of players to read every items description, pore over every line of dialogue. If that’s not your cup of tea, the game is still rad, you really don’t need to know what’s going on to enjoy it. I do a little of both myself. The level design is deep, and the overall world is interconnected in the most satisfying way. You open gates and walk through and say “oh, it’s this place” and it’s such a great feeling. Some of the late game areas feel unfinished or rushed, but the standout areas make up for it in spades. Combat is great, although Dark Souls will definitely feel clunky for first timers. Especially if you’re comin from Bloodborne, Dark Souls 3, Elden Ring…combat will feel slooooooow. It’s a learning curve, and if you can get past it, combat is fun. There’s some issues I have with the lock-on feature, issues that I have with every Fromsoft game, but again, the good outweighs the bad. I started this game again with no intention of beating it, but once I got into the groove again, I dropped every other game I was playing and was locked in. It’s that kind of game, and if you can get past the difficulty, it is a must play.