To Live & Die In Dark Souls

As if it's not a clue, this is a reference to the next item I'll be reviewing on my list; Namco Bandai's Dark Souls.

When coming up with a title for this one, it seemed logical to make reference to the fact that, just as you spend time living in this game (though as the story tells, not for long!), you'll spend an awful lot of it dying!

You'll see an awful lot of this screen, I assure you! ;)

Naturally, this will upset a lot of people because it always means a lot of reloading, backtracking (or should I say forward tracking to where you were before you died) to reclaim your lost souls or else risk losing them permanently.

So, then... what makes it so playable?

I dunno, maybe the determination to get further than you did last time.

As one of the Rooster Teeth crew said in a video I watched a while back about its sequel "you'll spend an awful lot of time dying in this game" and I thought he was joking; he wasn't! :D

What's the point then?

Haven't I just covered that? An extra dose of determination to get further than your last attempt!

I remember how I normally reserved a special kind of hatred for games that are just that hard they're unplayable... but then I simply realised one thing; I sucked at that type of game!

It didn't make it a bad game, just highlighted how I either didn't have the skills or the patience to put up with all the suckiness I was oozing at it.

I suppose a perfect example is the Ninja Gaiden series, I just didn't have the time for those types of games. Again, I was either unwilling or ignorant to the fact that I just sucked at them like this dude! ;)

Life is a funny thing, I got to thinking yesterday having played and utterly failed at Dark Souls on my first attempt. One minute it's there, the next it's gone.

This time I possess a new determination that supersedes my former desires to just get rid of a game I cannot play through inability. My nephew lent me this game with a view to finally get my opinion having heard so many good things about it.

He told me he's clocked up numerous hours on this and its sequel and I can totally see why; the fact that you just want to do better than last time!

An exercise in futility this is not because I'm determined to do better than last time, to finally beat at the third attempt, the Asylum Demon. This is the game's first boss and now that I know that all enemies respawn upon usage of the bonfires, I'll have to be more selective over when and how often I save!

See why I said backtracking?

You live, you die, you backtrack to where you were last were before dying again, backtrack again before promptly dying again, hopefully one or two demons later. I say backtrack when really it's retracing your steps forward through the level.

It's not for the faint-hearted that's for sure, but it's worth the rewards even if part of me just hates the game and wants it to go away. But that's only because I suck at a game that's slanted against the user so much to start with.

No, wait, not "suck at" for that would imply ineptitude!

FINAL VERDICT

I think the real answer here is that I find something oddly playable about this that makes me want to do better than last time.

Remember those games when you said to yourself "just one more game, just one more game" after either running out of lives or time? This is the same principle, I think, because I don't want to give in and risk ruining an otherwise worthwhile achievement of completing it... if that'll even be possible!

Layeth the smack down I shall on those demons then for a while longer!

Peace out!