Tag: Praise the Sun

Dark Souls Review

*Review based on Dark Souls release as Dark Souls Remastered*

Dark Souls is a difficult game. Many enemies and bosses can kill you with one stroke, deadly traps will lead to instant death, and invading players always have it out for you. The challenge of Dark Souls has become the stuff of gaming legend. And yet, that difficulty is hardly the summation of Dark Souls. Rather, the steep challenge is justified by being part of one of the most tightly constructed, immersive and overall satisfying experiences in all of video games. Yes, Dark Souls is difficult, but it’s so much more than that.

Director Hidetaka Miyazaki followed the blueprint of his earlier title Demon’s Souls when crafting this spiritual sequel. Dark Souls transcended its predecessor by delving into deeper gameplay territories. The most prominent of which being its merging with the Metroidvania sub-genre, with each land to be discovered in the game connecting with another, and shortcuts between them to be found once you meet the right requirements.

The world in question is Lordran, one of the great settings in video games. The people of Lordran suffer the curse of being undead. Unlike most fantasy stories, the undead of Dark Souls look like human beings, but they are unable to die, instead losing more and more of their humanity upon death, eventually becoming a ‘Hollow’ (essentially a mindless zombie, and more akin to what is usually labeled as ‘undead’). Players take on the role of the ‘Chosen Undead,’ who escapes from the Undead Asylum and arrives in Lordran, where they begin a pilgrimage that is destined to bring them face to face with Lord Gwyn, an old god responsible for the undead curse.

As is the standard for the series, most story and world elements are intentionally vague, with snippets of character dialogue and flavorful descriptions of items giving insight into the world of Lordran. It proves to be one of the more effective means of video game storytelling, with players able to delve into the narrative should they choose, or simply bask in pure gameplay.

From the get-go, Dark Souls’ gameplay presents a staggering amount of variety: Players can customize their character to be more focused on heavy physical damage, magic attacks, healing, quick strikes, and more. And even when you do decide which direction to take your character, there are still several different routes you can take with each build. Even the core gameplay provides different styles, whether it’s a weapon in one hand and a shield in the other, two weapons, a weapon and a staff, there’s no shortage of options. You can even swap into holding a weapon with both hands at the press of a button.

The depth in gameplay just never lets up. There are new mechanics constantly being introduced, and some which are so subtle you may not realize they were there until late into the journey.

Two of the key mechanics players will need to know are souls and humanity. Souls are acquired from defeating enemies, and work as both experience points to level up your character and currency for buying items, weapons and armor. Humanity is a bit rarer, being an occasional drop from enemies and scattered about the world, as well as rewarded for helping other players fell bosses. When the player dies (and you will die), they become Hollow which – along with making their character look more deathly – prevents you from summoning other players for help. Adding to the game’s challenge, every time you die, you lose your souls and humanity (though you retain unused humanity in your inventory). You have a chance to reclaim your lost earnings if you can return to the spot you died, but if you die again before you make it, you lose everything.

The now-iconic Bonfires serve as checkpoints, but are also where you spend souls to level up, repair and upgrade equipment, and where you can spend a humanity to undo the effects of Hollowing. Resting at bonfires also refills your Estus Flask – your primary source of healing – and you can increase the usage of your Flask at any bonfire you’ve kindled, which also costs a humanity. Suffice to say, discovering a new bonfire after a series of rough patches is a godsend.

The sheer amount of detail that emits from every environment of Lordran is staggering. The level design is among the best of any Metroidvania title, with every destination being perfectly staged with enemy and item placements, not to mention secrets around every corner (a number of which rival Symphony of the Night’s inverted castle in how they change and expand upon the whole experience). Even in its most painfully difficult moments, it’s all too easy to get absorbed in Dark Souls’ structure and depth.

If things get too difficult, you can always call on other players to help you out by finding their summon signs across the land (with players usually leaving them around bonfires and boss doors). You can summon up to two other players to aide you in an area until you rid it of its boss, but you can’t summon players when hollowed. There is a caveat to staying human, however, as whenever you’re not hollow you are susceptible to invasion by enemy players. Of course, if you’re getting stuck on a particular segment, or simply want to help or hinder someone else, you can always leave a summon sign or invade another player for a change of pace.

On its own, the multiplayer of Dark Souls – both cooperative and combative – has rightfully proven influential over the years, as it remains a fun and refreshing change from multiplayer norms. But to add another layer to everything, players can join Covenants throughout their journey, which often have their own benefits and rewards for both friendly and fiendish multiplayer.

I suppose we do have to go back and talk about the notorious difficulty of Dark Souls. While the game can get brutally difficult – to the point of intimidating some players – it’s never unfair. Whether its equipping the proper armor to withstand poisoning or finding the right spot to best hide from a boss’ devastating attack, there are always methods to what seems like madness. More importantly, there is always a sense of strategy, with players able to survive any onslaught if they know when to dodge, block or attack. While a lesser designed game may simply leave you throwing your hands in the air and giving up under such difficulty, Dark Souls is so well designed that it will leave you wanting to push yourself to see things through. Dark Souls may have you feeling like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day, going about the same situation in different ways until you get it right. And when you do get it right, there’s seldom an experience in gaming that even approaches its sense of reward.

Though it was originally released in 2011, Dark Souls’ visuals have held up nicely, with the remastered version making it look all the more at home on current hardware. Better still is its art direction, which should rank among the best of the medium. There’s not a location or creature that doesn’t stick with you. Combine that with the game’s incredible musical score and unparalleled sound work, and Dark Souls is quite the spectacle, and presents perhaps the most absorbing fantasy world in gaming.

There are a few minor issues with Dark Souls, but nothing that truly undermines its overall excellence. Later in the game you gain the ability to warp between specific bonfires, though you may wish you gained the ability a little sooner when you find yourself going back and forth in the earlier half of the game. Then there’s the backstabbing mechanic, which is just far too easy for players to perform on one another. While being invaded by opposing players may be par for the course, it kind of sullies a lot of player-versus-player encounters when everyone is simply trying to pull off a backstab on each other in place of using their full moveset. But again, these are little more than quibbles.

Yes, Dark Souls is a very difficult game, but it’s so much more than that. While most of the video game world became preoccupied with trying to replicate the spectacle of Hollywood once the medium made the jump to 3D, Dark Souls instead feels more akin to what would have happened if the older style of games from the 80s and early 90s had evolved into the present day. Like the best games from those early years, Dark Souls requires its players to gain an intimate knowledge of its every last location and trinket in order to see things through. It combines those older traditions with one idea after another that are entire its own, and continues to build on them throughout its entirety.

Dark Souls is a difficult video game. But it also happens to be one of the very best.

Praise the sun!

 

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Dark Souls III Review

Dark Souls III My Character

The Dark Souls series has quickly become one of gaming’s most revered franchises. But, according to series director Hidetaka Miyazaki, Dark Souls III is to be its final entry. If this should be the last in the Souls series, however, then the series can proudly claim to have gone out on a high note. Dark Souls III is another stellar installment, one that takes bits and pieces of its predecessors (including Demon Souls and Bloodborne) to create an adventure that plays like a greatest hits of the series.

In terms of gameplay, Dark Souls III is largely reminiscent of its predecessors. It remains a smartly constructed action RPG with a Metroidvania-style game world. Combat is tight and intricate, enemies are difficult and deadly, and defeating them earns the player “Souls,” which work as both experience points and currency in the game’s world. Player’s can find an assortment of different weapons – from swords and shields to bows and staffs – as well as armor to boost their character’s effectiveness.

Dark Souls IIIMuch like the past entries in the series, the game has a great sense of balance with its weapons, armor and magic, with the player’s preference in play style taking precedence over some items simply being superior to others, giving the game a nice sense of variety in gameplay. Though Dark Souls III also takes a page out of Bloodborne’s book, with the combat adopting some of said game’s quicker pace when compared to prior games donning the Dark Souls name. So those who may have found previous Souls games to be a little on the slow side may have an easier time getting into Dark Souls III.

As for the plot, Dark Souls III continues the series’ trademark subtleties in storytelling and lore. The player takes control of an undead known as the “Ashen One,” who is tasked with averting the destruction of the kingdom of Lothric by rekindling the “First Flame,” by means of destroying four renegade Lords of Cinder; previous kindlers of said flame whose duties have driven them mad. The game leaves most of the finer details of the plot in bits and pieces to be uncovered by those who want to know more about Lothric’s history and characters, but those who simply wish to run about the kingdom slaying monsters with as little plot as possible are free to do so as well.

Of course, Dark Souls III carries the Hidetaka Miyazaki tradition of intense difficulty. In many ways, Darks Souls III is the most difficult entry in the series, with often relentless enemies and brutally unapologetic level hazards. But the game never feels unfair, as it utilizes a trial-and-error approach rather brilliantly. Almost every encounter and situation asks players to think over their tactics, and to use any and all mechanics at their disposal. It rewards patience and those willing to think things through, and punishes those who would blindly run in to get the most kills.

Dark Souls IIIStill though, this level of difficulty won’t be for everyone. And if the difficulty curve of past Souls games turned you away, chances are Dark Souls III won’t win you over. But for those who appreciate what the Souls titles have to offer – from trap-filled environments to memorable boss fights – Dark Souls III has the formula down pat.

Aesthetically, the game is a marvel. The series has never looked better, with polished graphics, great character and creature designs, and beautiful and dreary environments. The soundtrack is grand and perfectly captures the many moods of the game, and Dark Souls III continues the series’ tradition of having perfect sound effects. You get a sense of weight in the weapons and armor from the sounds alone.

If there are any downsides at all to Dark Souls III, it might just be that most of the optional areas in the game are a bit on the short side, at least when compared to the lengthy and often epic optional zones of Bloodborne. They still provide their share of memorable (and frustrating) moments as well as incredible boss fights, but they lack the grandness of the game’s mandatory zones which, again, is disappointing after how much detail went into Bloodborne’s optional content.

Dark Souls IIIThat’s ultimately a small complaint, however, when one takes into consideration everything Dark Souls III gets so right. It seems the further you delve into the adventure, the deeper the game becomes. There are covenants to join (each with their own special player vs. player gimmicks), sidequests to tackle, and even upgrading your equipment is made into an addicting game in its own right. And if things get too difficult for you, you can always summon other players to lend a hand. You may even have a great time simply being summoned by other players yourself, and reaping the benefits of Souls and covenant items that come with it.

For those willing to face Dark Souls III’s steep challenge, it provides a compelling gaming experience that seems to constantly introduce more layers of depth as the game progresses. It’s brilliantly paced, staged, and full of surprises. Dark Souls III takes many bits and pieces of the previous Dark Souls games, as well as blood relatives Demon Souls and Bloodborne, to create something of a Frankenstein’s monster of the franchise’s elements. It may not reinvent the series, but if this is truly to be its final installment, then Dark Souls III is a hell of a way to go out, solidifying the series as one of the most consistent, and richest, in gaming history.

Praise the sun!

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