Continuing my playthroughs of the Souls series, I have returned to the game that cemented itself as a staple of pop-culture, and laid the foundation of the direction of the franchise, as well as influenced a thousand other titles...
You play as the Chosen Undead. An honourable knight frees you from the asylum you were rotting in, and you set out on your path through the land of the Gods to relight the dying fire and end the undead curse. Along the way, you meet a mix of eccentric characters, fight terrible creatures and uncover secrets no human has ever known.
The first thing I noticed when playing the game was its vibrancy. Dark Souls III was bleak in its colour saturation and level design, being at the end of the timeline, whereas when you explore its origin in the first game, you get more of a sense of wonder. Yes, it is still occupied by the dead, and many places have long since been abandoned, but the land itself is lush, with warm, bright colours in even the dingiest of places. Light bounces off of stone surfaces, and skin tones are red and gold instead of grey and beige.
Despite the lower quality graphics, this was very much welcome.
The more open-world style was also very exciting for me. In the other games I had played, each level was very much seperate, with the most you could expect being a hidden shortcut connecting adjacent areas (with the exception of the multiconnected Cathedral Ward in Bloodborne), and the instant ability to teleport to and from checkpoints. In Dark Souls, that option is taken away from you, with the bonfires providing a place to rest, retune abilities, and level up, but not warp you to another area. Venturing out into the world feels far more adventurous, as you never knew where you'd end up if you continued into the unknown. It could be several sessions or many hours between stopping back off at Firelink Shrine or its nearby refuges, making the world feel far more memorable (and daunting) than most other games of a level or fully open world based approach, as you may revisit areas, open ways back to old locations or find alternate routes to the same destinations, all depending on how you chose to play, a perfect setup for a fantasy RPG title.
Where it does show its age, however, is in the combat, which in later titles has been tuned to perfection. A lot of weapons feel redundant, as there is little use for more than two or three in any given playthrough, and even then they are restricted to just a few animations, unlike its later combos and weapon arts. You also move far more slowly, which is a definite hinderance coming from the fast-paced action of the later entries, and often leads to frustration from a sense of helplessness, not in game design, but its technical faults and limitations, particularly in the last third of the game and the nigh unbeatable bosses of the DLC.
That isn't to say you won't have fun with it, but you can certainly appreciate the reputation of difficulty and rage-quits it has gained once you play it for yourself.
We all have our toughest areas (although one in particular comes to mind) and favourite bosses and most breathtaking spectacles, but somehow it still holds up today as one of the greatest gaming experiences ever. It is no wonder there is still an active fan following, and while it may not have been the first ever from the company, it was the one that put it on the map (along with making one all of its own). I give Dark Souls Remastered an 8 out of 10
8 out of 10
Spoiler Section
Ok, that place I mentioned earlier. Sen's fortress. While I have always admired Dark Souls' difficulty and willingness to test the player's resolve, it really got to me. Everything there is out to get you, and not just the enemies. Trapdoors, boulders, swinging axes, great drops, the introduction of the infamous Mimics, and hidden lifts and bonfires. This is where the game takes a hard left turn from fair and balanced into downright brutal.
Highlights for me were uncovering routes to Blighttown through the Valley of Drakes, unearthing the way down to the Ash Lake and its haunting atmosphere and of course, finding my way back to the safe haven of Firelink. The best bosses have to be Ornstein and Smough, the Bell Gargoyles, Artorias and the Iron Golem, while the worst are undeniably Seath the Scaleless, the Bed of Chaos and the Ceaseless Discharge (although they certainly have the most inventive and hilarious names).
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