Dark Souls is the best console game to be released this generation (in my opinion, which is correct), and one of my favourites of all time . Every single aspect of this game is near flawless, and in a sea of derivative, unimaginative, laughably lame mainstream games it stands head and shoulders above everything else. It's challenging, emotional, immersive, addictive, beautiful, and completely amazing. Why should you play it?
1) The high level of difficulty.
Dark Souls is not for children. If you're a typical Call of Duty playing, Nickelback listening, Transformers watching douchebag, then don't even think about playing this game, because a) you're not worthy, b) you'll most likely ragequit early on and c) I hate you. Dark Souls is for people who want a challenge, want to die a lot and actually THINK for once in a video game. Right on the back of the game it says "PREPARE TO DIE" in huge letters, and you're going to. A lot. Hundreds of times most likely. In my 400 hours of playtime, I've died hundreds of times, probably thousands. But the thing about Dark Souls is that every death is a lesson. When you die, you learn about hazards in the environments, the attack patterns of enemies, what they're resistant to or weak against, when to charge and when to be careful, etc etc etc. This is one of the greatest successes of Dark Souls. It defies the modern conventions that games have (d)evolved to. There's no mini-map on your screen telling you where to go, no arrow giving you directions, very few tips and free items. The only advice you're gonna get is the messages that other people playing online leave behind to help you, and a lot of those are made by trolls that just want to mess with you. Dark Souls does not hold your hand in the slightest, and that's one of the reasons playing it is so satisfying. When you figure out how to open a shortcut you previously couldn't get to, or beat a ridiculously hard boss (which are common in Dark Souls, the bosses are insane) or even just make it to the next save point you feel amazing. So many times in this game I've found myself holding my breath without realizing it, and then when I finally make it to safety I let out a sigh of relief and feel awesome because I just did something really difficult and I feel good about it. Sure, it's really hard. Most of the enemies can kill you in seconds, regardless of your gear. But when you finish the game you have an amazing feeling of accomplishment that very few games can give, you feel like you actually DID something.
2) Atmosphere/Immersion.
Atmosphere is something that a lot of games miss the mark on. It's that immersion factor, the way a game can drag you right in, to the point where there is nothing but the game and your attention is totally consumed. Because of the aforementioned difficulty, Dark Souls requires that much more concentration to play (also because you can't even pause the game). You won't be able to play it while texting, you won't want music on, and playing it drunk is probably a bad idea too, although I've heard of some cool Dark Souls drinking games. Since the game autosaves constantly, everything you do is final. There are no do-overs. You can't load up your previous save and try whatever it was you were doing again like in Skyrim. This made me play really carefully, and care about what I was doing. Constantly assessing risk and strategically planning your battles is a key to success in this game, and since you play the game with your mind you are so much more immersed and invested in the game. You have to read the enemies and know your surroundings everywhere, because the game developers did an amazing job here. They set up traps, put enemies in the most inconvenient spaces and made incredibly difficult levels to traverse, because they hate us all and don't want us to beat the game (notice I said beat, there's a difference between beating a game and finishing one). So when you do finally destroy the final boss and beat Dark Souls, you feel totally badass. I remember the first time I beat it, I was strutting around the house like I owned the place and wasn't a loser living in his parents' basement until he finished college and finds a job, it felt awesome.
In addition to this, the atmosphere in the game is enough to creep anyone out. The world you're in is completely bleak and hopeless. Everyone there is depressed, and everyone else wants to kill you. The areas you go through in the game are dark and dreary, devoid of sunlight and filled with murderous creatures that sometimes come out of nowhere. Some of the levels are riddled with traps, others are dark, hopeless labyrinths. The mood of Dark Souls is incredibly depressing, and after playing for a while you certainly feel its effect on your psyche. It's not a happy game, and when you become hopelessly addicted to it you get fully immersed in this nightmarish world, never to return until you turn off the game, which you won't want to do because you're hooked.
3)The absolutely brilliant multiplayer/co-op
Dark Souls' multiplayer is like nothing else on the video game market today. There's no invites, no lobbies, no matchmaking. There's just the game world, and whoever gets brought into or comes into it. When you're running around dying, killing, looting and dying more, you can randomly get invaded by other players. This person comes into your world as a red phantom, and basically hunts you down and tries to kill you. You either win or die. There are also clan-like groups known as covenants that you can join that give you special abilities and advantages in the PvP system, which spice things up a lot. Being invaded is scary. When it happens, your heart skips a beat and you wonder who it is, what kind of character they have, how good they are etc. There are hundreds of weapons in Dark Souls that you can upgrade and create, and they all handle differently than others. Finding a weapon that you like and are comfortable with is key to being good at PvP. Some people are incredibly good and kill you easily, but most of the time it's a pretty fair fight since you're always around the same level. Defeating an invader or hunting someone down and killing them is very satisfying, adding to the gratification Dark Souls offers to those who take on the challenge.
Even more fun is the co-op. When someone wants to help another player out, they leave a sign on the ground. This appears in the worlds of other players and they can summon the other player as a white phantom to help them get through the level or finish the boss off. Helping people out is awesome, and certain boss fights are really insane to do alone, so the co-op is a welcome addition to the bleak, depressing atmosphere of the game. Hooking up with a friend and running through the levels quickly is incredibly fun.
I could write pages and pages about Dark Souls because I truly believe that it is one of the best games to come out in recent memory, but it's better to experience it yourself than read about it on some stupid blog. So I encourage you, give Dark Souls a try if you're brave enough. It's coming out for PC soon with new content, so everyone, console and PC gamers alike, can experience this amazing game.
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