Dark Souls

Dark Souls is the sequel to Demon's Souls. I'll be up front with this, I ABSOLUTELY LOVE Demon's Souls. Going into Dark Souls, I had high hopes. From Software has never let me down before, and how could they go wrong with this one? I'll tell you how.

 

The story is quite simple. There are several overlords that have been around since the dawn of time and they have turned evil. There is a prophecy about a Chosen Undead that will replace them and reignite the flame to light the darkness. If you couldn't guess already, your character is that chosen undead.

 

You die somehow (I like to think my character (Named Knight Mare on the playthrough I beat the game during) died from performing a guitar solo so epic her heart exploded from the sheer awesomeness) and are thrown into the tutorial level. You are escaping from the Undead Asylum while learning the basics and collecting your starting gear. The first boss is quite a lot like the Vanguard from Demon's Souls, only it isn't a "supposed to lose fight" like before. You kill him and are taken by a big birdy to Firelink Shrine, this game's version of the Nexus.

 

From here, you venture to the different areas and kill all sorts of things from undead goons, to bush monsters, to big cats that roll around like they are Sonic the Hedgehog, and giant mushroom people to name a few. The enemies are varied, at least in look. A lot of them behave the same way, the goons in the starting level act the same as the crystal goons in a later level, but they have at least a few quirks that are unique to that variety of goon.

 

The bosses are usually pretty well done. There are three fights that pit you against two or more bosses at once, which makes going solo near impossible. The rest are one on one showdowns and most are quite managable once you know the attack patterns. Some, however, have outright cheap attacks.

 

Cheapness is the new theme of this game I'm afraid, which is where almost all of the frustration comes from. Enemy hordes are quite a lot bigger than before, and a lot of the enemies have unblockable grab attacks that do FAR too much damage (very often enough to 1-shot you even though you are a high level in a low level area). The worst offender in this regard is a giant worm in the obligatory fire level.

 

The cheapness doesn't stop there though. Enemy attacks have more homing than the most advanced missiles, making dodging almost impossible (I've had enemies do a full 180 mid attack to hit me). If an enemy has wings, be prepared for a lot of waiting as they will constantly do jumping attacks (you can't touch them during said attacks). Enemies are far too well placed, one particularly cheap section has you running along a narrow ledge while 2 knights (one in front, one behind) are firing arrows at a very rapid rate which have considerable knockback even when blocked (you get knocked based on where you are facing, many times I've been running against the wall to not fall off and I was knocked off despite the arrow coming from an angle that would have pressed me into the wall).

 

The level design is made specifically to make you rage. Narrow ledges, check. Dark areas with narrow ledges, check. Dark areas with narrow ledges and giant enemies with plenty of attacks that knock you back, check. Dark areas with narrow ledges and multiple giant enemies with plenty of attacks that knock you back and archers firing into your back as you try to fight them, check.

 

They don't really tell you where to go either. A single NPC tells you once there is a bell above and a bell below. Beyond that, you are on your own. Many times I have gotten lost and had to resort to a guide just to figure out where to go and what I should be doing. If you have to get a guide, then the developers have not done their job well.

 

The worst of all is the lag. I am not taking about multiplayer lag due to connection, single player gets quite laggy. Sometimes the framerate just plummets to the point you are watching a slideshow, particularly when in online mode and doing something else on the internet but it happens when Dark Souls is the only thing eating up bandwith as well. The WORST of all is input lag. There have been several times (most notably when onehanding a wepaon) where I gave the character an order to attack and only after a very long wait (2-5 seconds, sometimes more) does she decide to listen, very often after the attack window is gone and even more often just in time to get smacked in the face herself (my male character didn't do this as much as my woman one oddly enough, likely just coincidence but you never know). Many times my orders are completely ignored, very often leading to death or accidental usage of a very precious heal. If you don't have a stable connectioned, do NOT play in online mode if you want smoth gameplay. However if you don't play in online mode, you can't get help to defeat some of the cheapest bosses so just pick your poison and take a big swig.

 

All of the FUBAR nonsense you have to plow through should mean a good sense of accomplishment when you do triumph, right? Not quite, I'm afriad. Instead of screaming "I DID IT!!!" you'll be much more likely to be screaming "FINALL..... FFUUUUUUUUUUUU" because after getting past one cheap thing, you'll quickly stumble into another. It seems almost everytime I was begining to enjoy myself, something else comes along and reminds me what I was feeling an hour ago.

 

Much of this is excusable simply because we need more games like this to remind us of the glory days when games didn't hold your hand. There is a reason the term NES Hard exists and PS3 Hard does not. Just like the NES classics, the porrly done ending makes you feel abused rather than giving you a feeling like you did something great. Dark Souls has 2 lackluster endings.

 

Dark Souls does many things just like Demon's Souls, from reusing some sound clips, to using some very similar boss and level layouts. All those things just make you wish you were playing Demon's Souls instead. Demon's Souls let you know what you are supposed to do, didn't have hordes extremly cheap enemies and level designs (minus those bloody flying manta ray guys), and most importantly of all had an epic intro video (something that greatly disappointed me with Dark Souls is it just goes straight to the main menu, the Demon's Souls intro was one of the few I've watched more than just few times). Dark Souls, just violates you with old-school cheapness and lack of telling you things.

 

It gets a DR

 

SCORING CHART:
MH- Must Have, get it ASAP
SG- Should Get, worth picking up after it gets cheaper
WR- Worth Renting, rent it instead of buying it
DR- Demo Recommended, try it before you buy itsince it isn't for everyone
SA- Stay Away, come near this game at your own risk.
OPGN- Oh Please God No, Avoid at all costs.