- Format: PS3 (version reviewed), Xbox360
- Unleashed: Out Now
- Publisher: Namco Bandai
- Developer: From Software
- Players: 1-3
- Site: http://www.preparetodie.com/
It was only summer last year that the EU finally saw a release of Demon’s Souls (US version review and preview here), the critically acclaimed third person adventure RPG created by From Software renowned for not holding the player’s hand and being extremely challenging. From Software is back with the spiritual successor. Dark Souls is not related by plot but the engine, gameplay, and most of the fundamentals are the same – kill enemies and collect souls to level up, fight very large bosses to orchestral music and do lots of exploring.
In a world that was once dark and ruled by dragons, embers sparked and created fire which was kindled by four different beings that used them to kill the dragons. The flames are all but extinguished now and the darkness is back. Players take the role of the ‘chosen undead’, one of the unfortunate few to receive a mark that makes them live on after death. Dark Souls’ plot is extremely obtuse and beyond the introductory movie is fed to the player through vague dialogue, objectives and ultimate goals. This is a shame because there are hints at brilliance here and the voice work is solid; it’s the lack of detail and clarity that kills it.
Poor plotting and unclear motives and objectives are what really sour Dark Souls early on. The Undead Asylum acts as a basic tutorial for the player (anyone not familiar with Demon’s Souls will be at a loss after it though) but once you leave and are thrown out into the world, all you’re given is the vague objective of ringing bells because ‘something might happen’. Then you’ll go exploring around the main camp and probably start dying.
As might be apparent from the ‘prepare to die’ theme on the official website and back of the box, From Software expects the player to die a lot – and you will. The same could be said for Demon’s Souls, but there is a fundamental difference: in Demon’s Souls a death was always the result of carelessness, stupidity or lack of judgement on the player’s part, from which they learned and succeeded one or two tries later. In Dark Souls, the game will unfairly kill you over and over.
Enemies lunge through walls; bosses attack before you can move; you’ll be assaulted by enemies you have no hope of killing or that are immortal without you being higher level, or having a particular item to give you the status effect you need just to be able to hit them; enemies more often than not have at least one attack which if it doesn’t instant kill, will nearly kill you regardless of your level; and of course nearly everything respawns if you die.
Now, the enemies respawning when you die is a hangover from Demon’s Souls and wasn’t particularly bad in that one thanks to each area being its own separate ‘dungeon’ reached from the central hub. Dark Souls is one large area (though for multiplayer purposes each area is still classed as a dungeon with certain borders) and thanks to poor checkpoint placement will result in a lot of frustration, especially early on – particularly because you will feel cheated in death rather than learn anything from it.
Fundamentally, From Software has failed to understand what players enjoyed about Demon’s Souls. With the exception of any latent masochists it was not dying over and over, because that’s just frustrating. It’s great that a game is challenging but there still needs to be some basic premise of fairness to keep things fun. And that’s the big problem really. Multiple times playing Dark Souls through we just weren’t having any fun – and isn’t that the point of gaming?
The final nail in the coffin removing any chance of enjoyment was changes to multiplayer. Gone are the dedicated servers from Demon’s Souls and now a matchmaking system exists. This may have been to cut down the number of messages or ghosts you’ll see, or maybe even to stop invasions by players wanting to kill you; but this has also killed co-operative. You have basically no chance of seeing the marker of your friend even if you know you’re both standing in the exact same place and meet all the other pointlessly complicated criteria.
The horrible changes to how multiplayer works seems bizarre and is especially disappointing because some of the new Covenants (groups or guilds led by certain NPCs) add layers to the multiplayer that would have been incredibly interesting. As an example: one gives you a ring which will teleport you to a certain forest if a player who doesn’t have the ring sets foot in it. Another which we tried bleeds powerful enemies into three other players’ worlds and you receive half the souls they were carrying if those enemies kill them; however if they find your marker, they can invade your world to kill you.
It’ll no doubt be obvious that the thing which rings through in this review above all else is utter disappointment. We loved Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls is a poorly made successor. Should it be properly balanced by patches and if the multiplayer is changed, then there would be reason to play it for some people. For those that do soldier through the first few unbalanced hours then the game becomes more manageable in the higher levels, but there will always be something out there that will kill you in two seconds and make you think all the levelling and gear collecting you’ve done was utterly pointless.
For the most part Dark Souls is not fun, it’s just frustrating. For some that might be what actually makes it fun, but this is better left to those people. There are better games than this already out there for those that like challenges to be fair.
looool worst review ever,dark souls is a skill game not for the fuking newbs,omg you sucks newb
4/10 for a game like Dark Souls only proves that u a lonely strange little man
Thankfully, your in the minority regarding your opinion of his game.
I can’t agree on the fairness issue. The game is fair, sure enemies can kill you in one shot if you make a mistake. But bosses aside, you can pretty much do the same to them, with some good timing and if you take the time to learn your opponents strengths and weaknesses.
I’ve not found the game frustrating at all yet and I love that the designers have chosen to give us a ‘show not tell’ narrative style to the world. The last thing the game needs is to be bogged down with ‘detail’ and expository lore. The world and enemy design tells it’s own tale of captivating beauty, marred by corruption and undeath. Games often try and oversell their worlds with reams of poorly written nonsense about prophecies and crystals of baffling power. Dark Souls’ seamless environment tells its own story.
I think the game walks the thin tightrope between extremely rewarding and crushingly frustrating. For me it’s the former, for the reviewer it would seem it’s the latter. I can understand why someone wouldn’t like this game, but a 4/10 score is either troll bait or nerd-rage territory and does little to reflect this amazing game that refuses to bow before a market dominated by accessibility and no-risk mechanics.
Thanks.
I suspected that this game did not adhere to good game design. E.g. the player should be responsible for all outcomes, otherwise it’s a case of the game playing the player, which is unfair and no fun. This is the only review I’ve read so far to confirm this.
So, I’m adding you to my (very) short-list of trusted game reviewers
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias
Ben, the game is solid. It is not as good as Demon’s Souls in terms of design but it is by no means a 4/10. In Dark Souls, the player is responsible for the 90% of death outcomes as opposed to Demon’s Souls’ 99%. My only complaints would be weapon slashes occasionally go through walls and floors which can be annoying(however, this does work both ways), and sometimes it is frustrating to get knocked off ledges by clubs and arrows. Otherwise Dark Souls has felt challenging and fair to me. Just my two cents.
The player IS responsible for all outcomes in Dark Souls. That concept only means that the game doesn’t auto-kill the player without their having any ability to avoid it, and Dark Souls, much like Demon’s Souls, absolutely obeys this rule. It’s just that most games these days take it to an extreme, holding the player’s hand and insulting their intelligence. Many gamers, much like this reviewer, have been treated like idiots by so many modern games that they’ve BECOME idiot gamers.
In summary, Dark Souls is fair. The reviewer just sucks hard at it, which would be OK if his ego didn’t get in the way of letting him enjoy the process of improving.
In even briefer summary, this review is just nerd rage.
Hah, good thing reviews are just opinions. Shame your opinion is wrong however.
Dark Souls is a great successor to Demon Souls. You just suck at Dark Souls is all.
There is sad that players do not know how to evaluate a game when not know anything about that game because the game does not have dark souls to a player who has a lot of exp in hardcore games and rpgs? note is that this review is that a casual gamer and a newb rpg gamer.espero note that this does not come on Metacritic, because this review is a total shame
Ian D’s review is the biggest waste of time. You sir are an idiot, and should go crawl into a dark hole..and just end it.
Please shut down your website, you just made us all dumber by reading this review.
Dark Souls is a great game 9/10
I think to fully enjoy this game you need a certain level of maturity and patience which this reviewer does not seem to have. I can understand him not liking the game because it is too difficult (and in his opinion unfair), but his gaming has obviously been saturated by titles that don’t let the gamer think for themselves. I’ve died a ridiculous number of times in the game myself, and it’s even had me frustrated enough to step away a few times. Though in the end, when you’ve conquered that obstacle, few games can provide the personal satisfaction of Dark Souls. I only wish I could share how excited I was to beat a black knight with my friends, who didn’t understand what the hell I was talking about.
Every element of Dark Souls is designed to make you feel scared, helpless and alone. From the sound of things that’s exactly what it did to you. In which case its not bad game design its actually pretty much perfect game design. A lot of the points you brought up are more complaints about things that are essential to the Dark Souls experience. One shot kills, high level enemies, bosses with powerful attacks, etc. That’s all pretty much what that game is.
It’s normal to write a more personal review of something after you finish it. That’s why its a good idea to have someone proof read your review before you publish it, or if you’re really hating a game on a personal level just let someone else review it. As it is this review comes off more as a blog post rather then a professional review, which damages your credibility and the sites credibility. When one of your points is ‘higher level enemies are hard to kill.’ it becomes hard to take you seriously.
Going forward just try to have someone check the tone of reviews. Friendly tip from someone who has done a lot of reviews.
Dark Souls awards players who understand the systems in place, and work towards utilizing them and even conquering them. Demon’s Souls vet especially, you should understand this. It is no way different than Demon’s Souls, though the structure of the world makes you feel more vulnerable. It’s absolutely no different in that sense, and if you continuously get pummeled, well, there’s a disconnect somewhere. Most likely, in understanding the mechanics and using them effectively.
I will agree with you on the Online components, as the move to P2P connections has really hindered any co-op, summoning, invasion experiences for me and many others. Hopefully, FROM will address this with patches.
A review written in frustration nets this game a score of 4/10. Not to mention, it’s the shortest low-scoring review I’ve seen; your arguments are shallow and are clearly made out of frustration. When someone scores a game that low, I’d like to hear more in-depth on why they did, not just the obvious answers.
I mean seriously, as someone who claims to have played Demon’s Souls, I’m shocked that you can’t see the evolution here. Sounds like the effort to pull the industry out of its funk of hand-holding, instantly gratifying experiences dumbed down for the masses is once again moot.
The game is for sure not for everyone. Neither was Demons’ Souls. Just like great literature isn’t for everyone.
But, like poetry, this game unfolds and expands in your mind as you digest it. If he feels its 4/10 than its just not his bag!
All it means is the rest of us aren’t sending him undead christmas cards this year.
Don’t hate on him. Get revenge by buying this game for all your friends who think they rox0rz by prestiging 5x in BlaqOpz.
4/10…. lol please go.
Fable 3 is calling you.
Fair review if 4/10 means a “Slightly worse than average” and not “Total Crap” like most reviewers use.