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Dark Souls is an action RPG that makes a lot of other action RPGs look bad. It combines the crisp realistic graphics of Skyrim with the fast-paced combat system of a fighting game and a level of customization rivaling all but Path of Exile. And best of all, the game has a very high skill cap to it. If you’re new to the game, you’re going to die. A lot.
![[image loading]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/7afad790b1be22432e7d3cdbc9516fdf/tumblr_mgn2ipYFr41qe9sm9o1_500.jpg)
Dark Souls is very hard on new players – and more than likely, you’ll end up dead several times before you even leave the tutorial area. And yet, many players who are playing through a new character who are familiar with the game can go long period of time – lasting through several bosses – before ever dying.
And like a lot of other games, the greatest challenge is always other players. Even after you’ve mastered fighting every enemy there is to fight, there is always PvP or New Game Plus (which basically lets you do the game again, from the start, with massively harder enemies).
I’ve played Dark Souls for around 100 hours now, and I’m happy to say that I’m nowhere near being done with the game. But enough gushing - let’s get to the meat of the post, shall we? I’m going start by describing a few strong points and weaknesses for the game. And then, after I’ve rambled on at some length about why this game is good and what could be better, I’m going to do something that is sorely lacking in other online resources (as near I can tell) – a statistical breakdown of how stats work and what this tells us about the gear and stats we spend our time in this game getting (this will come in a later blog).
Strengths
Combat
The combat in Dark Souls is quite fast and quite thoughtful at the same time. A well placed dodge or parry (which are done only manually in dark souls –unlike other RPGs which make this a chance occurrence) can negate a lot of damage and create strong openings for a well-timed attack. However, this is not so easy as it sounds. When you press the “parry” button, in order to successfully parry and avoid all damage, the part of the attack animation dealing the damage must come in the next 6-8 frames (depending on what shield you’re using), and beyond that there is an additional 14-20 frames in which you cannot parry again. Parrying requires very precise timing and a lot of practice with each type of enemy to hit the “sweet spot” in which you can deflect the entire attack. The reward for parrying, though, is great – you avoid all damage from the attack for very little stamina (attacks hit hard, so this is already really good), and if you’re close enough you can riposte – which is an attack following a parry that both deals critical damage and has an attack animation that (like backstab) makes you invulnerable to attack during the animation (which is huge if you’re fighting multiple enemies at the same time). Dodging is a bit more forgiving (more frames to avoid damage, but with no riposte) and blocking is easy to do (but quickly expends stamina and occupies you during a portion of the attackers recovery period, limiting your ability to attack).
And that’s just the defensive abilities (for items in the left hand). The offensive abilities (right hand abilities) include 6 different attacks, some of which require precise timing or aim as well. For instance, the leaping attack included on a number of different 2-handed weapons requires a person to hit Forward + R2 in the same instant – and the timing is very, very touchy (and costly, considering most 2-handed weapons have a very, very slow and ineffective 2-handed R2 attack which results from the two being pressed at slightly different timings). Of course, the worst part of any attack is the recovery period – the period during which you can neither use defensive or offensive abilities and are open to attack.
But perhaps the most difficult part about combat is just how few hits a person can take before they drop. While most enemies will not one-shot you, the damage is high and a lot of enemies require a drink of Estus (the “healing potion equivalent” of Dark Souls) between attacks in order to avoid death in 2-3 hits. You don’t “tank” hits in Dark Souls – you just don’t, which is good because with the complex and dynamic combat system in Dark Souls, when you get good enough, you won’t have to.
Customization
Customization comes in many varieties in Dark Souls – there is a wide breadth of weapon and armor types and sets of attacks for each weapon, there are a great many stats a person can invest in, and there are spells and spell implements to invest in as well. There is a central currency which is used to “purchase” all of these bits of customization: souls. If you just killed a boss worth 20,000 souls, do you buy a couple “Twinkling Titanite” and upgrade your weapon/armor? Or do you use it for an extra point of strength or dex so that you can use new weapons? And aside from how you spend your souls, what weapons or armor do you want to use? Do you want to have high physical defense and poise? Or would you rather be more mobile? Do you want to swing a fast weapon which deals low amounts of damage, or a big, slow one? Are you going to be use magic? If so, what spells will you use and when will you use them?
I’ve stated previously in my thread decrying diablo 3 that I like it when decisions are made permanent – because in that way, they become meaningful choices with lasting consequences.
This game doesn’t exactly do that. You can always get more stat points if you’re patient enough to farm them. You can make your str-based character into an int-based one given the time. But what it does do is make things harder to get. I got to level 20 in the game in not too much time at all. But as the number of souls required to advance your stats increases, so does the time it takes to level . At my current level of 82, it takes a ton of souls (35k-ish) to get another stat point. Upgrading weapons works much the same way. You’ll generally get a couple Titanite Slabs in a playthrough, but once you spend them on str-based weapons, it becomes very difficult to get more to spend on Int-based weapons. So the consequences are there, but they’re not “exactly” permanent. Still, when it takes so little time to make a new character and invest in INT in the first place (and when the gameplay is so fun and engaging), why shouldn’t these changes be effectively permanent anyway?
Environment
Dark Souls is a creepy feeling game. You never know what’s going to leap out and start biting at you. You know a game has gotten in your head when you find yourself killing its peaceful NPCs because you’re afraid they might be enemies. And even amongst the peaceful NPCs, a good portion of them end up trying to kill you or another peaceful NPC. And for some reason, unlike all the other undead in the game (including the protagonist), the peaceful NPCs don’t respawn when they die. And even after you identify something as a foe – you have to figure out how it’s going to attack you before you know how to defend against it. Because if you don’t defend, you might end up dead (again).
Dark Souls does a really good job of making you cautious – and by cautious, I mean paranoid. The ambience, the sound, and the graphics all do a great job of portraying just the kind of hopeless gloom that the game is predicated on, while still throwing so many weird looking enemies at you that you can’t help but feel a little frightened of what lurks around every corner.
Don’t worry though – it’s probably just something that’ll kill you.
![[image loading]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mdf07cdEM91rfu100o1_500.gif)
Weaknesses
Depth of Itemization
This is my major gripe about the game. Don’t get me wrong – this game has a crazy amount of weapons and armor in it – and many sets contribute to a different way of playing certain enemies, while many weapons have completely different types of gameplay. In other words, the game is amazingly broad. But the depth of each type of playstyle is just not there. If I want to wield a big 2-handed weapon, there are a ton of options – but none of them are really much of an upgrade, they may be a sidegrade at the best. I’ve only been able to noticeably get a “better” weapon a few times throughout the course of the game. This is all tolerable. But then in New Game Plus, I run through the game again for the same items. Not even slightly better – exactly the same items. No new bonuses, no new abilities – the same stuff.
This floors me. Now, I’m going to play New Game Plus anyway – don’t get me wrong. I’m in it for the challenge, and the challenge is there. But while I’m doing something challenging, it sure would be nice if I was rewarded with a new weapon or piece of armor for overcoming that challenge. It wouldn’t even be hard to code, just up the stats 10% for every “New Game Plus” level added to the monsters.
Hidden Plot Hooks
How many times does it happen that you get to the end of a zone, beat the boss, and tell yourself “okay, I was hoping that opened a door or something… so where am I supposed to go now?” The game gives you almost no direction, and what direction it does give is cryptic at best. I love bosses I need to memorize and play well to beat. I love enemies who do unpredictable things. I love things that make me better by killing me if I’m not. But I do not love that a lot of progression is completely hidden – that a lot of the time, the only way I know where I’m supposed to go is by looking for video walkthroughs on youtube, or reading wiki descriptions, or alternatively I could inspect every corner of every room in every zone until I found the plot hooks.
![[image loading]](https://darksoulswiki.wikispaces.com/file/view/DKSNav.jpg/260401316/800x499/DKSNav.jpg)
No biggie, I'll just start at firelink shrine, and work my way around the circlejer...er, circle.
I love a challenge – I do not like that I missed the first two vendors solely because I had absolutely no idea there actually were weapon/armor vendors in this game.
Stasis
This really isn’t a gripe about anything in the game, so much as it’s a gripe about what is not in the game. There’s nothing random. There are no differences between the maps in your first playthrough and the maps in your fifth playthrough. Your weapons (for the most part) are static, with your choices being limited to how you wish to upgrade them. In some ways, this is nice because it means you don’t have to find everything a second time (see above). In other ways, it really hurts the replayability.
Conclusion
Dark Souls is an amazing game. The important things it does well, and only small things are missing really. It has given me gameplay and combat mechanics that I previously didn’t even know to hope for. It has given me an experience which clearly will be well over 100 hours of enjoyment. It’s something that comes highly recommended for those who like ARPGs, but feel that the current crop is lacking – or for those who loved skyrim… except the awful combat mechanics. The story is less than amazing, but it makes up for lack of story with an amazing environment to play in.
Less than a year ago, a dissatisfactory experience with Diablo 3 saw me booting up Dungeon Siege again, a game I thought I’d put away forever – and I remember thinking: “it seems like the older action RPGs had little/no plot elements to them, why is it suddenly mandatory that each game have a deep story which is central to the game attached?” Dark Souls answers my question with a resounding “it’s not mandatory”. You’ll want to explore. You’ll want to beat all the enemies you can. You’ll want to trick out your toon with the best gear that selling other people’s souls can buy. Not because (insert story reasons here) – just because it’s there, and the combat system is so good, why wouldn’t you?
I’m looking forward to playing Dark Souls as much as I can in the coming days – and even more I’m looking forward to hearing more about the sequel currently in development. And if you feel in need of an amazing game to play, and other games just aren’t holding your attention, try dark souls. It’s one of the most resounding triumphs from a developer I’ve never heard of in recent years. Go get it!
![[image loading]](http://upwardgaming.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/dark-souls-lol.jpeg)
 
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Oh man, I was so tempted by this game when it was on sale for the winter steam sale.... But I decided against it since I was aware of the huge workload I'd have this quarter in school. My decision to put it off stemmed from hearing of the game's reputation and knowing that if I played it during this quarter I'd keep on putting it off, get discouraged and never get it finished. Or worse the game mechanics would make me angry and instill a desire within me to show the game who's boss and just keep playing it until I beat it and never get any schoolwork done. But when I get to summer break, I know what game I'll first be playing. 
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Excellent review, I agree on almost all points. I'm about where you are -- a little over 100 hours into my first playthrough, SL85ish, and while I'm close to endgame (3/4 Lord souls), there's a lot more I want to do (currently I'm halfway through the DLC area), which I'm somewhat ashamed to have used the wiki to find. (Seriously, who found that on their own?!) I found that the patience and caution the game drills into you does a pretty good job making sure you explore everything thoroughly, so I never got stuck in knowing where I could go to progress. I might not have known what was at the end of any given area, but I knew where the places I hadn't tried to go yet (or tried to go earlier and got demolished) were at all times. I doubt I could write down a map of the world with connections between areas, but if you name an area I've been to, after 100 hours of play I can probably come up with a reasonably fast route to run from Firelink to that location.
One thing that I think is notably absent as a pro in your review is that there IS a deep story behind large parts of the game, but it's hidden away in dialog trees and item descriptions instead of blasted in your face in cutscenes. I already know of at least two places where knowing the backstory dramatically changes the apparent meaning of what you're seeing, namely the Fair Lady (the spider-lady-thing at the Daughter of Chaos bonfire) and Artorias/Sif's story that the DLC reveals. I was not prepared for the emotional impact of either of those reveals.
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I think Demon's souls was much better about the general "direction" of the areas you're supposed to go, whereas Dark Souls is a lot more open world, as strange as that may sound. You have the choice of going anywhere, and the worlds are mostly connected as one giant map (bar Anor Londo).
And as Iranon said, the lore of Dark Souls is surprisingly deep, just its told in a very round about way, mostly through item descriptions. If you're willing to look for and delve into the lore however, I think you'll have a very different outlook on the bosses that you encounter in the game.
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On January 29 2013 12:36 Treehead wrote:
Weaknesses
Depth of Itemization
.... there are a ton of options – but none of them are really much of an upgrade, they may be a sidegrade at the best. I’ve only been able to noticeably get a “better” weapon a few times throughout the course of the game....
Wait, you're saying that's a bad thing? It's a great thing that the weapons are so well balanced that you can use any of them. The only way to get a better weapon is to make it better(through upgrades, stats, and perhaps most importantly getting skilled with its moveset). I can understand wanting more reward for the later playthroughs than just the increased souls and challenge(btw it goes past just ng+, you can go ng+++++++ before the difficulty tapers on further advancement), but the weapon balance is something ds has far above its peers. The game does get pretty cryptic though(fake walls behind fake walls isn't even top ten). Also both of the dark souls wikis have pretty decent breakdown of the stats already.
Your review is alright, but it feels like it's lacking in some areas you could have covered. You go into detail about the combat but then don't talk about spell types, very little about weapon upgrade customization, how the online aspects work (besides just mentioning there is pvp, without mentioning there is co-op), the lore/story(which admittedly is buried, but there is actually a lot of it and it drives the player character as the chosen undead strongly enough), technical aspects (not sure which version this review is even for, ps3 has slowdown in some areas, pc has graphics mods), didn't mention the dlc content, etc. It feels like some of the review could have been condensed to allow a brief overview of some of the other aspects, though everything that is in the review is well done. 3/5
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On January 29 2013 16:12 Fyrewolf wrote:Show nested quote +On January 29 2013 12:36 Treehead wrote:
Weaknesses
Depth of Itemization
.... there are a ton of options – but none of them are really much of an upgrade, they may be a sidegrade at the best. I’ve only been able to noticeably get a “better” weapon a few times throughout the course of the game....
Wait, you're saying that's a bad thing? It's a great thing that the weapons are so well balanced that you can use any of them. The only way to get a better weapon is to make it better(through upgrades, stats, and perhaps most importantly getting skilled with its moveset). I can understand wanting more reward for the later playthroughs than just the increased souls and challenge(btw it goes past just ng+, you can go ng+++++++ before the difficulty tapers on further advancement), but the weapon balance is something ds has far above its peers. The game does get pretty cryptic though(fake walls behind fake walls isn't even top ten). Also both of the dark souls wikis have pretty decent breakdown of the stats already. Your review is alright, but it feels like it's lacking in some areas you could have covered. You go into detail about the combat but then don't talk about spell types, very little about weapon upgrade customization, how the online aspects work (besides just mentioning there is pvp, without mentioning there is co-op), the lore/story(which admittedly is buried, but there is actually a lot of it and it drives the player character as the chosen undead strongly enough), technical aspects (not sure which version this review is even for, ps3 has slowdown in some areas, pc has graphics mods), didn't mention the dlc content, etc. It feels like some of the review could have been condensed to allow a brief overview of some of the other aspects, though everything that is in the review is well done. 3/5
I mean, don't get me wrong - I'm not saying its awful that they have great breadth but little depth. But for players who are more used to traditional ARPGs like Diablo and are driven by itemization rather than difficulty (this isn't me, but it is many in the ARPG community), it's going to be quite detrimental to the NG+ (++, +++, ++++, ++++++++++++) options if you don't get anything itemization-wise for doing it.
I kinda feel about DS itemization what you feel about my review - what was done was done well... but I feel like they missed a step.
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I'd agree with most of the review, however I'd say that the lack of intruding plot was a deliberate choice by the developers that I really liked, especially in a game designed to be played more than once it's good to just exist in a world that feels real. I'd say it's an 8 or 9 out of 10 game, the review is a 5 star blog though 
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On January 29 2013 21:33 Treehead wrote:Show nested quote +On January 29 2013 16:12 Fyrewolf wrote:On January 29 2013 12:36 Treehead wrote:
Weaknesses
Depth of Itemization
.... there are a ton of options – but none of them are really much of an upgrade, they may be a sidegrade at the best. I’ve only been able to noticeably get a “better” weapon a few times throughout the course of the game....
Wait, you're saying that's a bad thing? It's a great thing that the weapons are so well balanced that you can use any of them. The only way to get a better weapon is to make it better(through upgrades, stats, and perhaps most importantly getting skilled with its moveset). I can understand wanting more reward for the later playthroughs than just the increased souls and challenge(btw it goes past just ng+, you can go ng+++++++ before the difficulty tapers on further advancement), but the weapon balance is something ds has far above its peers. The game does get pretty cryptic though(fake walls behind fake walls isn't even top ten). Also both of the dark souls wikis have pretty decent breakdown of the stats already. Your review is alright, but it feels like it's lacking in some areas you could have covered. You go into detail about the combat but then don't talk about spell types, very little about weapon upgrade customization, how the online aspects work (besides just mentioning there is pvp, without mentioning there is co-op), the lore/story(which admittedly is buried, but there is actually a lot of it and it drives the player character as the chosen undead strongly enough), technical aspects (not sure which version this review is even for, ps3 has slowdown in some areas, pc has graphics mods), didn't mention the dlc content, etc. It feels like some of the review could have been condensed to allow a brief overview of some of the other aspects, though everything that is in the review is well done. 3/5 I mean, don't get me wrong - I'm not saying its awful that they have great breadth but little depth. But for players who are more used to traditional ARPGs like Diablo and are driven by itemization rather than difficulty (this isn't me, but it is many in the ARPG community), it's going to be quite detrimental to the NG+ (++, +++, ++++, ++++++++++++) options if you don't get anything itemization-wise for doing it. I kinda feel about DS itemization what you feel about my review - what was done was done well... but I feel like they missed a step.
I actually think the same about the itemization, though possibly for different reasons. I do wish there was more reward for advancing the game, very few of my chars go past ng+++. I at least have one which I'm driven to take all the way to max and advance as far as I can, but I agree that it's not for everyone and could've been done better, I'm not sure if better weapons would be the right way though. The game definitely is not perfect and has flaws, but it's still one of the best arpgs on the market today. I hope I didn't come off too negative before, I did like the review overall.
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I have had this game for over a year. I really wish I could get into it more but I just die 
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On January 30 2013 03:03 plasemeious wrote:I have had this game for over a year. I really wish I could get into it more but I just die
Keep at it man. I think you'll find that the harder a game is the more rewarding it is when you can survive. And you WILL be able to survive eventually, it's only a matter of time.
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I spent 150 hours on Dark and 120 on Demon's Souls.
Dark Souls is imo one of the greatest titles of all time, this game is a masterpiece, the atmosphere, the sound effects, the firelink shrine music, the NPC that are like you, lost in this world and who live their lives...and the constant fear of dying (at least in your first game, once you master the game you don't die as often). Also the game is very polished with a ton of secrets, shortcuts, hidden things like the girl you free from a gold golem if you venture far into a lake. This game is hypnotic.
I'd agree that I would love some extra content for NG+, apart from that it's a perfect game.
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EPT
