If you are a gamer in any way similar to me, you’re going to have something of a love/hate relationship with Dark Souls II. I am a perfectionist: the thought of a blemished stat sheet makes me feel faint and uneasy. Deaths, failed missions or getting captured invariably means a quick reload of the last save point. Dark Souls seems to have been created as the physical representation of my gaming nemesis. Here is a game that delights in your demise, in whichever way it can make it possible. They even give you an achievement – ‘This is Dark Souls’ – after the first time it has mercilessly seen fit to snuff you out, like a grotesque badge of honour you can look back on with pride at the end of the game and a thousand-odd deaths later. You can also add those to the number of deaths you accrued from the first Dark Souls, and possibly even as far back as its predecessor, Demon Souls. It would appear that From Software has created a beast so punishing, it knows full well everyone will come back, just to tell the tale of how they overcame every adversity and slumped breathless across the finish line (probably to restart again and make the game even more difficult for themselves).
Dark Souls begins rather unceremoniously, which is in keeping with the game as a whole – there is no fanfare for completing a section or vanquishing a boss, simply the understanding that you trudge on into an even greater challenge. After a gorgeous cinematic opening, you are plonked down into the world of Drangleic, a lost soul who must save himself. From this point you head to a cottage to meet three crones who talk rather cryptically, but importantly allow you to choose your class and character build. Or you could stray from the beaten path and happen across a massive ogre who is capable of crushing you with two swings of his massive fists. And Dark Souls doesn’t care; you will die, respawn with a bit of your maximum health reduced, and you will simply avoid this monster until such time as you can reasonably expect to face him and be victorious.
Some beautiful sights await, like a postcard of things to see before you die...again.
This is one of the joys of the game, the freedom to explore and perhaps enter an area you are not prepared for, and to learn and become that bit wiser from your misadventure. After a brief tutorial – some bits of which, in true Dark Souls fashion, you are liable to not discover – you arrive in Majula, which as the hub of the game acts as the one bit of respite throughout the game. Here you will meet a small smattering of merchants, which will grow as you meet more later on, and a blacksmith for repairing weapons, and a lady who will allow you to level up. There is a story, but you can choose to ignore it and simply live the life of a monster hunter, travelling to each area and slaying whatever is put in front of you. Other characters you encounter give you hints of what lies ahead, mentioning a comrade who ventured off ahead of them and never returned, or of treasure they heard that lies in wait for anyone brave enough to go in search of it.
Prepare to see this screen more times in one day than you do your own kids.
Invariably, any treasure worth getting is not going to be easy to get to. Dark Souls throws all manners of obstacles in your way, forcing you to improve your fighting skills at every turn in order to succeed. Defeating enemies – particularly bosses – requires plenty of patience and a willingness to learn an enemy’s attack pattern. Diving into a battle with a purely offensive mind-set can see your attempt swatted aside and leaving you open to a series of attacks. This is largely why death is not really a defeat: you may have tried a tactic only to find it did not work, though now you know a bit more than you did before you tried it. Being brought back to a bonfire respawns all the enemies you previously defeated, so getting back to your souls you just lost in order to reclaim them takes effort. Yet there is an upside – enemies are no longer infinite, so it possible to permanently put an end to the foes of a certain area. Bonfires also have the added ability of allowing you to warp between all those you have discovered, allowing you some respite and the chance to return swiftly to your base in order to gather items and weapons before returning to that boss once more.
Dare you to ask him if his giant mace is compensating for something.
A special mention must go to Dark Souls’ community. The ability to invade a random player’s game is still full intact. I was fortunate enough to not experience this in my playing time, as the glimpses I saw of other characters was enough to assure me that I would meet a swift death at the hands of any other player. However, conversely there is the opportunity to join a friend’s game and help them at their time of need. More casually, traces of other players exist throughout your own world. Thousands of messages are scattered throughout the world, warning you of an ambush that lies ahead, or letting you in on an item that you may have otherwise missed. While some are intentionally misleading – because what is Dark Souls without a bit of added mischief – many are helpful, with a shared sense of what it is to enter this world and try to reach the end alone. You will also likely wile hours away watching the ghostly apparitions of how other players died, fighting unseen foes or inadvertently falling off the edge of a cliff.
Unfortunately for my review, I was unable to complete the game. As per my opening paragraph, my style of gaming, combined with the game’s lack of information, meant restarts were inevitable. My first play-through saw me mistakenly join one of the game’s many Covenants, groups which can assist or hinder you during the game. So obviously, the covenant I first joined made enemies twice as stronger and me easier to kill, a fact I only discovered after using all my life gems and seemingly unable to progress any further. In another false beginning, I once more found my journey halted, breaking all my weapons and not having any souls with which to repair them or buy replacements. It was only after some reading I was made aware of the restorative powers that bonfires had on your weapons. It may be situations such as these that become deal-breakers for some players. We are a much cared-for gaming generation, with our automatically replenishing health bars and multiple difficulty levels, and Dark Souls eschews all modern comforts and lets go of your hand to watch your drift out into a sea of despair. Whether you decide to drown in it, or claw your way onto the far shore, will depend on how much punishment you’re willing to take along the way. The sense of achievement is almost unparalleled, and (as of this review) the 65 million plus deaths accrued by the entire Dark Souls II community is testament to the game’s challenge.
