Platform played on: PC
Hours played: 80
Genre: Action-RPG
Completion: 100%
Hours played: 80
Genre: Action-RPG
Completion: 100%
Praise the Sun
Years on from its birth, Dark Souls’ influence can still be
felt at every level of gaming even today. The obscure and fiendish RPG that
could has become a phenomenon, with multiple sequels and copycats hoping to tap
into the formula. Though the series as we know it originated with Demon’s Souls,
it was the sophomoric effort that achieved cult status.
The Remaster of the game, released on 25/05/18, promised to
refresh gamers’ memories of the cult hit, complete with modern resolution
options and smooth 60fps gameplay. However, Dark Souls Remastered has proven to
be controversial among consumers in the PC space, who argue that the remaster
did nothing that wasn’t already done by the original game combined with the
DSFix mod. Indeed, the gameplay additions in this remaster are few and far
between, with the developers aiming to keep the gameplay entirely intact.
However, criticisms of the porting job specifically are just
one part of the story; the central question to this review is if the game
itself is good. With that in mind, specific critique on the remaster itself will
come in another article. The game itself, however, should be reviewed first and
foremost. With that in mind, prepare to read as we dive into the hardcore world
of Dark Souls: Remastered.
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| Critique of the remastering job will come another time... Source: in-game screenshot |
Punishing, but masterful
The most important thing that stands out about Dark Souls is
the reputation of its difficulty. Souls is infamous for being a brutally-hard
game that will test the resolve of even the most hardcore gamers out there. The
truth is that Dark Souls has some frustrating and upsetting aspects; the game
often punishes the tiniest of mistakes with swift and brutal retribution. As a
result, it’s possible to lose hours of progress with just a few mistakes.
However, it is also important to note that the player will
never truly go backwards in their own development. The loss of accumulated
souls (the in-game equivalent of XP and currency) makes for a painful punishment,
but the player won’t lose upgrades that they’ve already made. Meanwhile, skill
level will constantly improve as the mechanics of the game reveal themselves to
the player. Success in Dark Souls is simply a matter of patience and perseverance.
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| Dark Souls may be punishing, but perseverance will be rewarded. Source: in-game screenshot |
What is another important thing to note about Dark Souls is
its commitment to theming and the oppressive nature of its plot. Players are
tasked with journeying through the kingdom of Lordran amid an apocalypse, with
the vague guidance of a grand prophecy for their motivation. Storytelling after
the initial cutscene is sparse, and is primarily related to the player through
NPC dialogues and item descriptions. Piecing together the lore of the world and
exactly what is going on is its own rewarding meta-game in Dark Souls, and
players are left to fill in the many gaps of the plot by pure speculation.
The choice of using implication and unreliable narration to
expose the plot is pure genius on the part of the developers. Dark Souls is
designed through and through to be a game that players actively engage with
right down to the smallest detail. The fact that the storyline is obscure lends
itself to the design philosophy; that players are left to puzzle out and tease
together loose plot threads by themselves creates an active atmosphere that
implies a complex and convoluted world without needing the grandiose
storytelling of bigger-budget games. Multiple interpretations can be made of
the plot, and this only lends itself to the artistic flourish of Souls. This
creates a sense of player agency and immersion; the player exists in this world
and is bound by its rules as is everyone else. Their experience of the world is
their own, and limited by their scope.
On the other hand, however, the plot could have done with
some polish; the voice acting of the NPCs can be laughably bad, and while the game
tries to handwave some of the poorer storytelling aspects as indicative of
characters’ growing insanity, the truth is that some tackiness shows through,
particularly in the tendency of every NPC to trail off into semi-sarcastic
laughter at the end of their conversations.
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| NPC dialogue is sparse, and could do with more polish. Source: in-game screenshot |
The design of the plot, however, is perfectly in tandem with
other elements of the game. Dark Souls was created as a cohesive whole, and
this shows through; just as Lordran reveals itself to the player in a matter
akin to the puzzle-box ethos of the Spencer Mansion from Resident Evil, so does
the plot. The result is that the storyline is effective and involving. Once
revealed to the player, it is clear to see that Dark Souls boasts a tragic, apocalyptic
plot of hubris, sadness and power struggle. The storytelling in this game is
indeed fundamental, masterful, and rewarding; to an extent seldom seen in the
industry.
Fates intertwined
As stated before, the way players run through Lordran is its
own kind of exposition; much like how the Spencer Mansion in Resident Evil
slowly revealed itself to players as rooms became unlockable, so does the
location of Dark Souls. The kingdom is a twisting labyrinth in its design, and
shortcuts criss-cross all through the world. One area leads into another with
an artful flair, and in a logical way that serves to surprise players at every
turn. There is something beautiful about the way later areas cross over into
earlier ones, and the unlocking of a shortcut is a joyful and rewarding experience
that never gets old. The level design in Souls is among the best seen in gaming,
no doubt; seldom surpassed even in the sequels.
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| The journey of Solaire is a perfect example of Dark Souls' storytelling. Source: in game screenshot |
As players level up and start to unwrap the game, the
intertwining of its mechanics become clear. That Dark Souls so neatly ties in
the growth of player skill with the growth of its world is no small feat, and
at every point of the game players are reminded of the increasing scope and
power of their gameplay. Progression is gated skilfully, and the lack of level
scaling only helps further; areas previously inaccessible due to being
underpowered then open themselves up to the player in rewarding ways,
showcasing to the player their own increasing skill and power in the world. It
also helps that at any point players can return to earlier areas in the game.
It is beautifully rewarding running through an earlier part of the game and
seeing how one can destroy enemies that caused so much trouble the first time
around.
The way that progression is designed in Dark Souls is
masterful. Players are not prevented from going into areas far beyond their own
abilities, and may be swiftly punished for their hubris. But for those skilled
enough such areas provide a refreshing, hardcore challenge with great reward.
For the first-time players, however, they are instead hinted along a clearer
path as a result; at the same time, the use of power and skill as a gating
mechanism creates an organic and natural guideline rather than artificial
designs used in other modern games. This creates a sense of exploration and
logical world building that feeds back into the central design philosophy of
Dark Souls seldom seen since the days of Zelda on the NES.
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| Dark Souls' best feature is its sense of location and discovery. Source: in-game screenshot |
Prepare to fight
Combat in Souls is deliberately paced and extremely tight.
Players have created whole YouTube series highlighting frame-by-frame analysis
of Dark Souls combat, and as such it has created a system that may be difficult
to learn, but mastery creates a sense of power and achievement that is
difficult to equal. Indeed, Dark Souls presents itself as a game that can be
truly ‘mastered’, which is something that can be appreciated as contemporaries
like Skyrim create a sense of randomness with floaty and awkward combat
systems. It is indeed possible to play the game in a variety of ways with many
different builds all suited to their own styles of combat, and this level of
customisation is laudable as the player traverses Lordran. Initially, though,
the temptation is to play as a tank; as players uncover the secrets of combat
timing lighter builds then come into play, taking advantage of the rolling and
dodging mechanics to face off against tough, but deliberately-timed bosses. If the
player so chooses, however, levelling up is an option that (if done correctly)
can bring great rewards and tune the difficulty right to their skill level.
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| Defeating a challenging boss in Souls is one of the greatest feelings in gaming. Source: in-game screenshot |
It's a shame, then, that there are some immersion-breaking
bugs that can destroy this sense of pacing. While for the most part, combat is
a tense and highly-accurate affair, there are wonky hitboxes with some enemies
and weapons that can break the game’s sense of fun entirely. Boss weapons often
clip through walls, and the hitboxes, while tight, can sometimes seem unfairly
strange in places. A sense of high-budget polish is desperately needed in Dark
Souls, something that the remaster has sadly not offered. For the most part,
however, the combat is indeed extremely tight and can take years to master
fully. Even today players are still optimising and re-optimising strategies on
how to play, which goes to show just how deep the rabbit hole of combat goes in
this game.
Ultimately, Dark Souls is easily painted as a flawed
masterpiece. This is a game that for the most part is so artfully and
masterfully designed that gamers can play for hundreds of hours and still have
only scratched the surface, but on the other hand there are many areas where
the inherent jankiness of its obscure nature come into play. Its obtuse design
can sometimes be frustratingly opaque, to the point that glancing at a
walkthrough is almost a necessity, but the sense of discovery is second-to-none
as a result. It seems that Dark Souls is a story of pros and cons in its design
choices.
Important to note, however, is that this is a huge game.
Every minute detail in Dark Souls is worthy of analysis, such that this review
is only really scratching the surface. An initial playthrough will take an
average player over 50 hours, probably closer to 70 on the first try. Then
there is the replay value; there is a scaling New Game Plus system, that
rewards dedicated players with increasing difficulty right up to the seventh
playthrough. There are a vast number of different ways to play the game and
experimentation is encouraged; experiencing everything the game offers will
undoubtedly take hundreds of hours. The game as a value proposition is simply a
gift that keeps on giving, especially where multiplayer is involved.
Crossing paths
Multiplayer in Dark Souls is a fascinating and
adrenaline-pumping experience, to be sure; like the rest of the game, access to
its systems are somewhat different from its contemporaries and is its own
mechanic. Players can take the role of invader phantoms, jumping into other
people’s playthroughs and engaging in duels, helped along by the tight combat
design. There is a whole other game in the Dark Souls multiplayer, and the use
of Covenants, in-game factions that offer multiplayer rewards, is a stroke of flawed
genius. There are multiple ways to play with others in Dark Souls, even down to
a co-op mode that is perhaps its most memorable aspect, giving birth to the
Sunbro fanbase.
Unfortunately, as with any multiplayer game, the experience
is soiled by a minority of toxic players, who take every joy in using hacks and
exploits to ruin others’ days. It’s a shame, as the design of Dark Souls’
multiplayer would lend itself to memorable and enjoyable experience. But the
truth is, it is a solid recommendation to play offline, even though the player
is forgoing one of the best parts of the game. The implementation of anti-cheat
in Dark Souls is almost non-existent, sadly leading to a ‘your mileage may vary’
recommendation of experiencing what could have been one of the most exciting
multiplayer modes in recent history.
Dark Souls is a veritable triumph of hardcore gaming; for
the dedicated players, it can offer one of the most rewarding experiences ever
made. That it’s gained a reputation for brutal difficulty is not even half of
the story of the game, and truthfully, it is an undeserved reputation. Yes, it’s
a punishing game, but Dark Souls is so much more than that. It is a flawed
masterpiece of tight design and artistic vision. While Bioshock made the first
mainstream case for videogames as art, Dark Souls perfected the ideal. However,
due to some of the inherent issues of its choices in design and the dark
spectre of a poorly-implemented multiplayer mode, Souls proves a difficult game
to wholeheartedly recommend to everyone. For those who are willing to deal with
frustration, and those who are patient, Dark Souls can be one of the most
rewarding experiences ever made. For everyone else, it would probably be better
to try to borrow the game from a friend before spending money on it, as
enjoyment of this, as with any art, is ultimately subjective.
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| Dark Souls burns brightly, but the heat may be too intense for some. Source: in-game screenshot |
The overall experience of Dark Souls, however, is one that I
can’t not reward a Gold Standard medal. Quite simply, it is too impactful, too
powerful, too masterful to ignore when considering the award. Dark Souls is a
shoe-in for the Gold Standard, and will be talked about for years to come when
considering the most impactful games in the industry.
-Gold Standard
Dark Souls may have many flaws, but it is hands-down one of the greatest games I've ever played. It's fundamental in its design and influence, and a deeply rewarding experience for those who persevere. The level of detail and artfulness in Dark Souls is simply astounding, and I cannot recommend it enough if you are brave enough to try the game.
The Remaster indeed has many flaws and suffers from its status as a controversial cash-grab move, but the central game is still present, and just as deep and engaging as before. I've never played a game that immersed me quite like Dark Souls, and its progression in particular compels me to consider this a true great title of its time.
Dark Souls is, simply put, a masterpiece, and deserving of its status as a Gold Standard game.
