This visionary title is an important lesson on life. A unique perspective on this game's significance.
I put the game down some time ago, but it still follows me.
I'm at a crossroads in my life. As I continue counting the years when my higher education will finally be over and close friends say their farewells and good lucks, I become deeply disturbed when I wonder what my future will be. What will I do? Will it be worth it? And even more importantly, should I pursue exactly what I want to do? Should I pour every ounce of effort into it and burn the bridges that connect me to Plan B?
Dark Souls is not about death, but life. When you die you respawn at the bonfire. You tackle the objective and die again. Brutally. You've lost everything you've gained up to that point. The world is detached and lonely and you are left to take on every single enemy alone. The only help you get is from others who are playing the exact same game in a parallel universe, who more often aid you with messages peppered all over the game's landscape.
So you spawn again. Maybe you get some advice from a message scribbled on the ground. You go back and try to kill that boss and succeed. It may have taken you two or ten or thirty tries, but you did it.
See? Failure's not so bad. You just have to keep cracking away, and one of these moments, you will get the upper hand. One of these moments, the universe falters and you get your chance to succeed.
Dark Souls gives you no chance. It does not hand over victory until you wrench it from its claws and vanquish everything it has. It is just like the world we are born into. Victory is earned, and in Dark Souls, it is rewarding. It is rewarding because we pour everything we have into it to win. All of our skill, preparation and of course, luck. But what is luck but that old cliche? Preparation meeting opportunity?
The most challenging victories in life feel similar. Without a doubt, From Software has created a system that feels so rewarding that the oldest of gamers can appreciate its ambition even if they don't like the game.
What is a great business but an endless manifest of failed attempts to succeed?
What is a professional basketball player but some guy who missed more shots than he will ever make?
Dark Souls is a game where success is inevitable. It's never-ending, and never over. It will be there, and you will win when the time is right. And you will never stop winning if you never stop. This is the lesson that I take with me to the abyss of post-education, and strange enough, this game never had to tell me a thing. Maybe it's just an insane theory, but we cannot deny this:
Raw persistence is the key to victory in Dark Souls.