Sometimes, a game will be so large, complex or time consuming that standard reviews are forced into focusing on the game's basic mechanics and early experiences. The idea behind a post-review is to assume that the reader already knows the fundamentals of a game, and to skip over this in order to focus on the effect the game actually has on the player. So, without further-a-do, let me walk you through one of the best games ever created, Dark Souls.
This review contains no story related spoilers - but does discuss some lore that selective players may want to find out for themselves. There will be a warning before any such discussion.
[img_inline align="right" width="330" caption="A long way from home."]http://www.gamepur.com/files/imagepicker/48/dark_souls_ps3_box_art.jpg[/img_inline]
What makes a good game? An industry analyst would make easy work of this question; he/she would tell you that constant, ever increasing rewards make a great game. After all, a brief glance at the best selling games of the past few years (Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Elder Scrolls etc.) will confirm this to be the case. It also makes sense from a psychological perspective: people like being rewarded for their work - it makes them feel as if they've achieved something. However, while this is certainly very successful, it remains rather shallow. This system is the equivalent of being on the receiving end of a never ending narcotics drip: while it manages to avoid being dull, the effect does weaken significantly over time - especially now that so many games tend to subscribe to this philosophy. Dark Souls looks at this formula and laughs: rewards come slowly, and when they do the biggest reward is often the relief of finally completing that boss.
No, the reason Dark Souls is a good game is that it does everything it can to draw the player in. From the wonderfully responsive combat to the ridiculously detailed graphics, strong voice acting, lack of loading screens, lack of glitches/ bugs and strong music score: the game makes sure that there's nothing to throw you out the immersion. Having established this, it capatalises. The tension you feel just before facing a boss that you know, thanks to the internet, is really hard? It's more powerful than anything this generation of games offers. Despite no doubt countless hours spent perfecting the art of video-game boss battles, you are shaking through a mixture of nervousness and anticipation. Is this just because of the difficulty? Not at all, because there's no frustration there - and this feeling only intensifies when you're invaded by another player. Because it's a very lonely and oppressive world, Dark Souls, and this would not be the case if the game didn't grab you quite as firmly as it does.
Amongst this claustrophobic gloom, however, there's something quite remarkable. On your travels round your own, hostile world, you see the ghosts of other players running, fighting and resting at bonfires. Sometimes you'll see another person and both of you will stop and look at each other momentarily, before your respective specters vanish. Along with the co-op mechanic, allowing other players to be summoned for help, it's a warming reminder that you're not alone in your struggle. This "all against the world" mentality brings out the best in people: often summoned players will insist on taking point, doing all they can to make sure the host doesn't die and even going as far as to go off the beaten track and show the host where any hidden treasure is, despite not benefiting from it personally. Even when invading another players world with the intent of killing them, there's an unwritten code of ethics: wait until the host has cleared the area of enemies and healed up, stand a fair distance apart, bow and begin. It seems that a game which is supposed to bring out the worst in us (game rage), actually ends up achieving the opposite. I can't be the only one who finds that remarkable.
Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit
Encapsulating all of this is a story so complex and deep that, to this day, people are still debating over even the broadest of details. The most surprising thing about this is that you're hardly actually told anything by npc's or in the seldom few cutscenes scattered around the beginning of the game. Most of the information on the story is taken from a mixture of item descriptions, visual cues and, best of all, gameplay elements. What causes the darksign, which makes those afflicted with it unable to die? Well, where do you go when you die? From where does it draw its power? And thus begins a trail of reasoning which leads to an alternate ending. It's partially as a product of dying so often, and therefore exploring the world more thoroughly, that this kind of storytelling can shine. It can be passed by if you're not interested, but by simply activating your brain you stumble upon a dense web of intrigue and history, which adds more flavour to the ever desperate world of Dark Souls. Everything you encounter has some kind of backstory... nothing is placed at random.
Often forgotten, funnily enough, is the gameplay. Despite the rather awkward jump + kick controls (only ever used in particular situations, they're mostly useless), the responsiveness is fantastic. Combat revolves around exploiting the opponent's weaknesses - and doing anything but cautious aggression in this regard will ensure the appearance of the "you died" screen. As the player progresses through the game and becomes more familiar with it, so does a concept of fluidity and flow. Timing has to be so exact, and your attacks so well placed - especially towards the end of the game - that you end up planning several moves ahead. In PvP, what may seem initially like random movements before engaging in combat, soon becomes a frenzied jostle for both the best position and to determine the opponent's mobility (both due to equipment weight and skill) and therefore weaknesses. This process happens entirely mechanically, after a while you don't even realise you're doing it; it's a testament to how intuitive the gameplay is.
Dark Souls seems to have been coined as simply "the game that you play if you want a challenge". This speaks nothing of the reality: that Dark Souls is pure indulgence on the behalf of the developers, who wanted to make a game that they thought was brilliant instead of one that pushes all the consumer buttons. For one, while some areas could have been easily cordoned off to make future, money-grabbing DLC - this hasn't been done. Refreshing, don't you think? For once, we have a game made by people who love games, for people who love games and, while it may not be absolutely perfect, it could easily rank among the best games of all time.
Am I exaggerating here? No, I'm not. Since playing Dark Souls, no other game has managed to engage me at the same level: Skyrim, Arkham City and Dead Island all appear deeply flawed in the shining light of the experiences gained from Dark Souls. No other game will have you be so entrenched that the only thing you hear is your own heart, no other game tells its own story as effectively and no other game encourages the dichotomy between isolation and companionship quite as powerfully as Dark Souls does.
A modern masterpiece: 5 stars.
How's my writing?
This review contains no story related spoilers - but does discuss some lore that selective players may want to find out for themselves. There will be a warning before any such discussion.
[img_inline align="right" width="330" caption="A long way from home."]http://www.gamepur.com/files/imagepicker/48/dark_souls_ps3_box_art.jpg[/img_inline]
What makes a good game? An industry analyst would make easy work of this question; he/she would tell you that constant, ever increasing rewards make a great game. After all, a brief glance at the best selling games of the past few years (Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Elder Scrolls etc.) will confirm this to be the case. It also makes sense from a psychological perspective: people like being rewarded for their work - it makes them feel as if they've achieved something. However, while this is certainly very successful, it remains rather shallow. This system is the equivalent of being on the receiving end of a never ending narcotics drip: while it manages to avoid being dull, the effect does weaken significantly over time - especially now that so many games tend to subscribe to this philosophy. Dark Souls looks at this formula and laughs: rewards come slowly, and when they do the biggest reward is often the relief of finally completing that boss.
No, the reason Dark Souls is a good game is that it does everything it can to draw the player in. From the wonderfully responsive combat to the ridiculously detailed graphics, strong voice acting, lack of loading screens, lack of glitches/ bugs and strong music score: the game makes sure that there's nothing to throw you out the immersion. Having established this, it capatalises. The tension you feel just before facing a boss that you know, thanks to the internet, is really hard? It's more powerful than anything this generation of games offers. Despite no doubt countless hours spent perfecting the art of video-game boss battles, you are shaking through a mixture of nervousness and anticipation. Is this just because of the difficulty? Not at all, because there's no frustration there - and this feeling only intensifies when you're invaded by another player. Because it's a very lonely and oppressive world, Dark Souls, and this would not be the case if the game didn't grab you quite as firmly as it does.
Amongst this claustrophobic gloom, however, there's something quite remarkable. On your travels round your own, hostile world, you see the ghosts of other players running, fighting and resting at bonfires. Sometimes you'll see another person and both of you will stop and look at each other momentarily, before your respective specters vanish. Along with the co-op mechanic, allowing other players to be summoned for help, it's a warming reminder that you're not alone in your struggle. This "all against the world" mentality brings out the best in people: often summoned players will insist on taking point, doing all they can to make sure the host doesn't die and even going as far as to go off the beaten track and show the host where any hidden treasure is, despite not benefiting from it personally. Even when invading another players world with the intent of killing them, there's an unwritten code of ethics: wait until the host has cleared the area of enemies and healed up, stand a fair distance apart, bow and begin. It seems that a game which is supposed to bring out the worst in us (game rage), actually ends up achieving the opposite. I can't be the only one who finds that remarkable.
Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit
Oh hello, lore related stuff.
Encapsulating all of this is a story so complex and deep that, to this day, people are still debating over even the broadest of details. The most surprising thing about this is that you're hardly actually told anything by npc's or in the seldom few cutscenes scattered around the beginning of the game. Most of the information on the story is taken from a mixture of item descriptions, visual cues and, best of all, gameplay elements. What causes the darksign, which makes those afflicted with it unable to die? Well, where do you go when you die? From where does it draw its power? And thus begins a trail of reasoning which leads to an alternate ending. It's partially as a product of dying so often, and therefore exploring the world more thoroughly, that this kind of storytelling can shine. It can be passed by if you're not interested, but by simply activating your brain you stumble upon a dense web of intrigue and history, which adds more flavour to the ever desperate world of Dark Souls. Everything you encounter has some kind of backstory... nothing is placed at random.
Goodbye, lore stuff
[img_inline align="right" caption="Edward Cullen in sunlight" width="330"]http://images.eurogamer.net/2011/articles//a/1/4/0/7/2/4/7/6209527156_8f85835028_o.jpg.jpg/EG11/resize/600x-1[/img_inline]Often forgotten, funnily enough, is the gameplay. Despite the rather awkward jump + kick controls (only ever used in particular situations, they're mostly useless), the responsiveness is fantastic. Combat revolves around exploiting the opponent's weaknesses - and doing anything but cautious aggression in this regard will ensure the appearance of the "you died" screen. As the player progresses through the game and becomes more familiar with it, so does a concept of fluidity and flow. Timing has to be so exact, and your attacks so well placed - especially towards the end of the game - that you end up planning several moves ahead. In PvP, what may seem initially like random movements before engaging in combat, soon becomes a frenzied jostle for both the best position and to determine the opponent's mobility (both due to equipment weight and skill) and therefore weaknesses. This process happens entirely mechanically, after a while you don't even realise you're doing it; it's a testament to how intuitive the gameplay is.
Dark Souls seems to have been coined as simply "the game that you play if you want a challenge". This speaks nothing of the reality: that Dark Souls is pure indulgence on the behalf of the developers, who wanted to make a game that they thought was brilliant instead of one that pushes all the consumer buttons. For one, while some areas could have been easily cordoned off to make future, money-grabbing DLC - this hasn't been done. Refreshing, don't you think? For once, we have a game made by people who love games, for people who love games and, while it may not be absolutely perfect, it could easily rank among the best games of all time.
Am I exaggerating here? No, I'm not. Since playing Dark Souls, no other game has managed to engage me at the same level: Skyrim, Arkham City and Dead Island all appear deeply flawed in the shining light of the experiences gained from Dark Souls. No other game will have you be so entrenched that the only thing you hear is your own heart, no other game tells its own story as effectively and no other game encourages the dichotomy between isolation and companionship quite as powerfully as Dark Souls does.
A modern masterpiece: 5 stars.
Top 5 of 2011
1. Dark Souls (10/10)
2. Little Big PLanet 2 (9/10)
3. Infamous 2 (7/10)
4. Skyrim (7/10)
5. Bastion (7/10)
And yes, Dark Souls> Shadow of the Colossus. It took a lot of time for me to make that decision, but that's final.
A very well done fan trailer
1. Dark Souls (10/10)
2. Little Big PLanet 2 (9/10)
3. Infamous 2 (7/10)
4. Skyrim (7/10)
5. Bastion (7/10)
And yes, Dark Souls> Shadow of the Colossus. It took a lot of time for me to make that decision, but that's final.
A very well done fan trailer
How's my writing?
