Dark Souls is a raw game. Accept its challenge and enter a brilliant world.
The only modern game that I can compare to Dark Souls is Demon's Souls, its spiritual predecessor. If you have played Demon's Souls, then you know for the most part the engrossing experience you are in for. Dark Souls varies from this formula in one key way and that is through the game taking place in one, wholly connected world, rather than the instanced levels of Demon's Souls. Each area in Dark Souls feels like its own level however so, until an item is found later in the game, this interconnected world only means that there will be a small amount of backtracking through the world. The backtracking never feels like a bad thing though and it feels very empowering to come back to a previously visited area to find that you can wreck the inhabitants that before gave you much torment. Bonfires are placed throughout the world of Dark Souls and these bonfires act as the comforting checkpoints that you drive forward to get to.
Dark Souls is difficult, but above all rewards patience. At the start of your journey, you will feel overwhelmed and there will be many paths ahead of you which lead to a fast death. There will always be a path of least resistance however and the achievement that comes with persevering through each area is great.
The combat in Dark Souls is the best combat that I have experienced in any RPG. Every swing of your weapon carries weight and can easily lead to your demise if mistimed or misplaced. It is because of this that each encounter with enemies deeply invests the player. Another fantastic thing about the combat in this game is the sheer amount of variety that can be found in the weapons and magic system. The player can choose from a vast array of weapons: things like your standard sword or greatsword, to whips, and even to gauntlets. The weapons all look unique and some of the designs are truly fantastic. Weapon upgrades are meaningful and it feels fantastic to finally upgrade a weapon to the point that you were aiming for and the armor selection in this game carries much meaning as well. You can start the game as one of multiple classes, but in the end the class distinction does not carry much meaning as each class starts with relatively similar stats that can be upgraded to the same place eventually. This time around, players can also choose from three distinct casting types, or a mix of multiple. These paths consist of magic (sorceries), faith (miracles), and pyromancy (pyromancies). Instead of casting out of a pool of magic points, the player has a certain amount of casts of each spell that they can use before they make it to their next bonfire.
Dark Souls is aptly named, for the game is truly dark; it is dark in tone and the environments themselves are often dark to the point that it becomes frustrating. Graphically, the game is no accomplishment, but that is not what the game aims for. The art itself is breathtaking to behold. The world of Dark Souls is filled with terrifying enemies. The game is scary. It makes the player feel vulnerable and wonder if they should go down a dark path or instead go back and level up a bit before trying to confront a particularly harrowing area. I found myself needing to farm a little bit in order to keep up with the growing difficulty of the world, but this does not become overly tedious and is merely optional.
The story of Dark Souls is vague and hard to follow for all but the most invested players. The snippets of story are primarily found in reading item descriptions or gleaning small bits of information from characters placed infrequently throughout the world. This was not a negative for me however, as what little information I had about the world only worked to create a more mysterious and intriguing environment throughout the game. The characters themselves are very memorable and it is because the world is so sparsely populated with these characters that this is the case. Many characters will be found throughout the game in multiple different places, and it is warming to see a familiar face in such an oppressing world as Lordran, where Dark Souls takes place. Often times the characters in Dark Souls recount harrowing tales, are suffering themselves, or are out to create suffering for the player. These characters provide a distinctive personality for Dark Souls unlike most modern games.
The online system in Dark Souls is brilliant. Though I did not spend much time involving myself in the PvP aspect of the game, the game offers much in terms of player interaction. Players can leave messages in the world for other players to read and decide if they should be followed or if they are a false message that should be ignored. The interaction between players is very unique in that players cannot directly talk with each other and so if you choose to summon another player, it feels like you are being aided by a spirit from another world. There is a feeling of respect between players when this summoning happens as the world of Dark Souls demands respect and instills that spirit among all of its players. The alternative to this summoning in Dark Souls is invading. When in human form, a player's world can be invaded by another player who comes as a black phantom. This experience is heart-pounding and creates a very high-risk situation. Being hunted by another player while still dealing with the enemies dispersed throughout the world is an experience that you will learn to crave for the amount of triumph it offers upon coming out victorious. Players can also challenge one another in more chivalrous ways in the form of direct one on one battle. On top of these online elements is the covenant system. Throughout the game the player has the option to join various covenants. These covenants each put a twist on the various online aspects to the game and players can gain ranks in these covenants to unlock certain rewards. Some of the more exciting covenants in this game consist of a Forest guild whose members hunt down anyone foolish enough to travel through the forest in human form and a Darkmoon covenant which hunts down players who have betrayed their respective covenants.
Every action one does in Dark Souls is meaningful. The game is raw; stripped of any filler and injected with solid mechanics which last throughout the entire experience. The game is not for everyone, but anyone brave enough to conquer it will leave with a unique and memorable experience that is one of the best of our time.