Dark Souls Review
Played on Xbox One (base)
Developed by FromSoftware Inc.
Released 22nd September 2011 (Remastered 24th May 2018)
In my humble opinion, this game easily takes the crown as being Game of the Decade for the 2010s. Its irrefutable impact on the gaming industry, from popularising the sub-genre of "Souls-like" that Demon's Souls introduced, to reinventing the RPG formula and separating the hardcore gamers from the casuals, was a mighty accomplishment.
Story
The story of Dark Souls is brimming with fantastic creativity and depth. The plain base of this game is that you awaken as a Chosen Undead who must go along a path that'll lead you to relink the First Flame. In traditional From Software fashion, this story isn't explicitly explained through mind-numbing cutscenes, but instead relies on the player's own curiosity, perseverance, and self-exploration to piece together the hundreds of narrative clues told by NPCs (Non-Playable Characters), item descriptions and more. While it's nowhere near as cryptic as Bloodborne (which was a major appeal for me), the story is not too central, making sure not to detract from other elements of the game. I absolutely love the lore of Dark Souls, ever since its introductory cutscene of the 4 Lords, Age of Fire, etc. There is an endless amount of lore as well for side stories and the backstories of other characters, which I did enjoy going through, but found slightly irrelevant at times as they barely connected to the main central story.
Gameplay
The game style is simply an impressive RPG (Role-Playing Game). Dark Souls' mechanics and RPG system are so vast and amazing, that it's going to be hard to cover every basis, but long story short, they're all (mostly) great. This game is as much of a third-person RPG as any other - there's a light attack, heavy attack, dodge, and block, as well as additional extra moves. The difference is that it doesn't hold the player's hand in instructing them how to play the game and master its functions.
The few complaints I had with this is that the game can really make you feel sluggish at times which just feels uncomfortable to me. Another is that some attacks from weapons lacked the necessary satisfaction as they felt too weightless. Additionally, while not evident when playing for the first time, you'll soon realise that the expansive RPG elements of playing as whoever you want to be are a cover-up trick for Strength builds or Pyromancy builds feeling like the only viable options. These three flaws that I've nit-picked are nothing more than me stating preferences in an 11-year-old game.
The gameplay is truly brilliant and addictive. Every challenge encountered, every item or weapon used, and every bonfire lit followed the same simple philosophy: punishing, but fair. That's why I could not stop playing this game unless the real world needed me to. There are some cases where this doesn't apply though. The enemies in this game were great, innovative and a worthwhile fight each time whilst I was wandering around, trying to find the next fog gate. However, some crossed into territories of sheer nonsense difficulty or tutorial-level easiness. Finally, the level design is immaculate. The interconnectivity and fluidity between locations, the lore additions they do and the pure enjoyment you get on every path which doesn't trivialise others are outstanding. Yet another staple in From Software games. However, this game also has some of the worst-designed areas I've seen in a long time. The Tomb of Giants is nothing short of bullshit that doesn't add anything to the game except an unnecessary hour of playtime. Demon Ruins is the emptiest husk of a level I've seen in a while, with beginning bosses reused as basic enemies. And finally, the infamous Blighttown, a mix of the aforementioned areas: bullshit and empty.
Bossfights
For a game so legendary, it sure does contain an overrated catalogue of bosses. I don't mean to sound like it had a terrible showcase of bosses, as a few were some of the best I've ever fought, but most were just plain and easy. This game does contain some fantastic designs of bosses, perfectly complementing the world they're set in, while others were unique in that they didn't follow the basic hack'n'slash formula for the player. Gaping Dragon was definitely the most impressive visually, while Crossbreed Priscilla was one of the only puzzle bosses to properly work and that I can truly commend.
However, the best boss, hands down, has to go to Smough and Ornstein. The challenge is refined, the music is memorable and engaging, the arena is incredibly well-lit and designed and their designs are nothing short of impressive. Lord Gwyn is a close second for the same exact reasons.
Yet, once again, there are some poor design choices. Bed of Chaos' premise and execution feel like second-hand embarrassment at how bad it was, while Capra Demon's arena does the opposite of what Smough and Ornstein's does. The rest of the bosses fall into the middle ground, with some bringing the overall quality of the game down with their basic fights and uninspiring designs/mechanics (Iron Golem, Demon Firesage...), and others balancing it out with their awesomeness (Asylum Demon, Great Grey Wolf Sif...).
Characters
The characters equalise each other in quality. Some characters are completely forgettable and lack any intriguing lore or presentation; visually, verbally and audibly. However, some are classified as icons and that's for good reason. Solaire's faithful charm was easy to love, and Patches returns as a reoccurring From Software character that is mischievously annoying yet lovable in all the same ways. Princess Gwynevere, Andre and Kingseeker Frampt are some of these NPCs that not only are captivating but are also lore treasure troves that I enjoyed talking with.
Atmosphere
The atmosphere is fantastic, only hogtied by a couple of issues. The soundtrack to this game is beautiful, nay, magnificent, nay, (insert another synonym for fantastic). Its enchanted audio is significantly more memorable than Bloodborne in my opinion, and Bloodborne still stands to be my favourite game of all time. Visually, Dark Souls is great. The remaster upgrade isn't anything special, only increasing the light intensity in some areas but the 60fps is a very welcome and benefitting change. The artistic approach to any From Software game is top-tier and I don't think this one is an exception with its stunning areas like Duke's Archives or Kiln of the First Flame, to the innovative enemy and weapon designs that breathed life and added flavour to this world. However, there are some occasions which retcon what I just stated, indicating the blandish brown and grey colour palette, destroying the treat to my eyes. The unnecessarily large and empty areas do also detract from some of the levels’ beauty, like the desolation of Anor Londo ruining the sunlit, architectural masterpiece.
Story - 9.5/10
Gameplay - 8/10
Bossfights - 7.5/10
Characters - 7/10
Atmosphere - 8/10
Great
An era-defining game that certainly still holds up to this day.
Artorias of the Abyss DLC
Released 24th August 2012
This expansion was the last chunk of content delivered to Dark Souls fans before its inevitable sequel. The DLC consists of a side plot where the Chosen Undead goes back in time to Oolacile, chronicling the legends of Knight Artorias, the constantly mentioned Abysswalker. Great plot, great start. This DLC focuses very little on its narrative and characters compared to the main game but still delivers intriguing bits and pieces for the player to create a cohesive narrative themself.
The gameplay doesn't get any redesigns in these three new levels (which still follow the superb level design ideology as the base game) but it does add new weapons, items and armour sets. However, none of it felt practical and cool enough to use and replace my main gear, even if it were for a moment. The new enemies also failed to entice me as they didn’t have the same outstanding designs and felt quite boring to look at, especially in the Sanctuary Garden. Fortunately, the areas themselves made up for that lack of visual presentation. And now, the most important part of the DLC: the bosses. Oh my god, they're fantastic. While none of them gets crowned as the best boss in the game - with that title still belonging to Smough and Ornstein - two of the bosses reach the top 3 and the other two in the DLC deserve a seat in the top 10. Every boss was challenging to a nicely balanced, adrenaline-enticing extent and their designs were on point. Knight Artorias and Kalameet the Black Dragon have earned themselves a sweet, comfortable spot in my brain as awesome encounters, awesome fights and a future guide to making awesome DLC bosses. Being able to fight a fallen hero turned frightening legend or a dragon that breathes cataclysmic fire is enough to win me over.
Story - 9/10
Gameplay - 7.5/10
Bossfights - 8/10
Characters - 6.5/10
Atmosphere - 8/10
A decent expansion to a wonderful game. If it weren't for the fact it houses such good bosses, I wouldn't of given this DLC a
