Skip to main content

Dark Souls Review

dark-souls-coverIn Dark Souls, From Software takes the impossibly challenging gameplay from its 2009 release Demon’s Souls and refines it. The result is a resounding success, building on the basic tenets laid out in the original with some new gameplay systems that completely alter the flow of play, making this week’s spiritual successor at once more welcoming and more challenging to all players.

Dying to learn

At base, Dark Souls is an action RPG bolstered by a complex set of progression and combat systems. But that sentence hardly captures the essence of the game, or really, the series.

Much like its 2009 predecessor, this game is not for the faint of heart. Instead of rewarding success, it punishes both ignorance and unskilled play. Discovering a new area for the first time? You will die. Taking a crack at a boss, or in some cases an enemy type, you’ve never faced before? You will die. Going into battle with anything less than 100 percent of your attention fixed on the game?

Yup, you’re going to die. In fact, even allowing for proper amounts of prep time to handle all of these various challenges, you’re still going to die. A lot. But there is an education in your demise.

dark-souls-1
Image used with permission by copyright holder

For all of the challenge it throws in your direction, Dark Souls is successful first and foremost for letting you learn from your mistakes and adjust your style of play accordingly. The cost of losing a life is relatively minimal; any souls or humanity (two forms of in-game currency) that you’ve collected are dropped right where you die — waiting to be recovered if you can get back to that spot without dying again. The only real penalty beyond that is a one-way ticket back to the last bonfire you healed at.

Back to the grind

Bonfires represent a big change from Demon’s Souls, and they serve to greatly improve the flow of the play in this new release. Think of a bonfire as a checkpoint save: Sitting down at one immediately restores your health and makes you fresh for battle again. It also refills your stock of Estus flasks, the game’s key quick-use health restoration item. Eventually, you can repair and upgrade your equipment at these fires as well.

Since nothing in Dark Souls comes without a price, the one you pay for daring to rest and recover your health is the respawning of all enemies that you’ve defeated since your last bonfire sitdown, save for bosses and mini-bosses. This element makes the game very grinding-friendly; simply find an enemy-rich area that’s close to a bonfire, then kill, rest, rinse, repeat to your heart’s content.

dark-souls-3
Image used with permission by copyright holder

You’ll need the added power too, as even the lowliest of enemies can quickly bring you down if you’re not careful. Grinding is essential, and you’ll be doing a lot of it. Fortunately, the level of attention that any individual encounter demands also prevents the repetition from growing stale too quickly. By the time you’re powerful enough to easily — if smartly — handle any enemies in a given area, you’ll be ready to move to the next one.

While Dark Souls is never easy, it delivers a lot of entertainment value to those who are willing to learn the game’s systems. Those who try to take shortcuts or rush through areas will inevitably be punished, and quickly grow frustrated if they end up setting their home bonfire in a location that’s too far ahead of their power level.

Who said life would be easy?

There is loot of all kinds to be collected, and other secrets to be discovered, but the real rewards are far less tangible for skilled players. There is something indescribably satisfying about bringing down a boss, or even a particularly tough standard enemy (Black Knights can seriously suck), in this game.

There are those in the industry who call out recent titles for being too forgiving; Dark Souls challenges that notion at every turn. The big success here isn’t just that; it’s also that this game entertains rather than frustrates. Sure, you’ll get plenty mad when you accidentally stumble into a mini-boss fight and lose the 10,000 souls you’ve amassed, only to make a stupid mistake and die on your way back to retrieve them. It will always be your fault though. Dark Souls may be challenging, but it is never cheap.

The unusual online features seen in the first game return here as well, with players able to leave notes scattered around the world that others can see. These notes typically offers a heads-up about what lies ahead or some secret that’s hidden in the area, but there are some sadistic players out there in the world too. People who will tell you about this great treasure hidden around the next corner… when it’s really just a Black Knight waiting to bop you over the head with his giant sword.

dark-souls-4
Image used with permission by copyright holder

You can also invade another player’s world — or be invaded yourself — to earn extra souls and humanity. Souls function as the game’s most basic currency; you spend them on anything from character-leveling stat points at your bonfire to shop items from various merchants.

Humanity is a bit trickier. Your character is technically an undead being, so using one humanity at a bonfire to “reverse hollowing” makes you human again. You can then spend a second humanity at that bonfire to “kindle” it, which essentially upgrades that particular fire to give you 10 Estus flasks whenever you rest there, as opposed to the usual five.

Almost perfect

The story is this game’s main weak point. It has one to tell, but it doesn’t do so very well. A large part of this can be blamed on the need to spend multiple hours grinding up to higher and higher power levels, but it doesn’t change the fact that the story, which gets a fair amount of development at the start of the game, fails to manifest very frequently as you play.

There’s also just the general user-unfriendliness. It’s not really fair to shower an unforgiving game with praise and then complain about it being unforgiving, but the level of challenge will almost certainly keep the wider gaming audiences away. Dark Souls separates the hardcore from the casual. It’s not necessarily a strike against the game, but it unquestionably limits the audience.

Those minor issues aside, Dark Souls is another examplary From Software effort and a near-perfect evolution of its predecessor’s basic ideas into a more compelling gameplay experience. Not everyone can enjoy it, but those who do will sing its praises to one and all.

Score: 8.5 out of 10

(This game was reviewed on the Xbox 360 on a copy provided by Namco Bandai)

Editors' Recommendations

Adam Rosenberg
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Previously, Adam worked in the games press as a freelance writer and critic for a range of outlets, including Digital Trends…
The best weapons in Armored Core 6
A boss fight in Armored Core 6.

Time to load up for your next mission, merc. Your mech is your real character in Armored Core 6, and the different components you attach to it can completely change how it functions. There are different legs, cores, and all types of ways to change up your mech, but the most immediate and important has to be your weapon loadout. These can range from melee weapons and shotguns to massive missile launchers and Gatling guns. Since your mech can hold weapons in both hands and on each shoulder, there's a lot of room to experiment and give yourself options. Still, weapons aren't cheap and credits aren't always easy to come by as a gun for hire, so here are the best weapons in Armored Core 6 to invest in first.
Best Armored Core 6 weapons

Vvvc-774LS Laser Slicer
Let's begin with a melee weapon, which is far more useful in a game with rifles and lasers than you might expect. This is great for cleaving through mobs of smaller enemies thanks to its wide attack range and the fact that each swing counts as two hits. With an attack power of 1,615, that's a lot of damage coming out very fast -- and that's not even considering the ability to charge it up while advancing. It is on the heavier side for its class, and takes a while to "reload," but is a perfect way to get some breathing room if you get swarmed.
VP-60LCS Laser Cannon
If you need an early shoulder-mounted laser weapon, the VP-60LCS is a great one you can pick up in Chapter 1. They do decent damage, but the real usefulness comes in their staggering ability. Their rate of fire is essentially as fast as you can pull the trigger, and without a need to reload, you can rely on them whenever you need to so long as you don't overheat.
DF-GA-08-HU-BEN Gatling Gun
Sometimes we just want to hold down the trigger and make our problems go away. That's what Gatling guns are for, and this one ranks among the best. Each round will obviously do little damage, but with 1,300 rounds to chew through, not much can hold out against its sustained fire. Having one or two of these in your hands to follow up after stunning enemies with a laser weapon results in the perfect combo.
Songbirds Grenade Cannon
You won't have access to heavy explosives like the Songbirds until around midway into the game, but it is a must-buy as soon as you can. As you would expect, these explosives deal a ton of impact damage that has a decent area of effect if you're firing near a group. As a cherry on top, the grenades also inflict a high amount of stagger, so they're quite useful against bosses as well.
BML-G1/P07VTC-12 Vertical Missile Launcher
We couldn't close out a list of best weapons without a missile launcher, could we? For your money, this model is king. This shoulder-mounted weapon of mass destruction houses 12 missiles in its case that are ready to track your targets down, even behind cover and around obstacles. Just lock on to up to a dozen targets and let the missiles do the work from there.

Read more
Even if you love Dark Souls, you’re not ready for FromSoftware’s next game
A combat encounter in Armored Core 6

I’m going to bet that a good chunk of people reading this have never played an Armored Core game. I’d be willing to bet most haven’t even heard of Armored Core, and if they have, it’s simply that “one series FromSoftware made before Dark Souls.” And if you have played Armored Core, you don’t need me to tell you what’s in store for Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon.

I’m talking to everyone else -- the ones who dabbled in Dark Souls, love Bloodborne, and tore through Elden Ring. I can tell you with confidence that you’re not ready for Armored Core VI. No, this isn’t Dark Souls with mechs, and for as much as FromSoftware has iterated on the core design with its now decade hiatus from the series, this is still very much an Armored Core game.

Read more
Every FromSoftware Soulsborne game, ranked
A dragon in Elden Ring.

It could be said that FromSoftware's ever-expanding collection of punishing but rewarding role-playing games – lovingly referred to as the Soulsborne series – has been among the most influential of all time. In fact, the cultural impact of Soulsborne games has been so powerful that it's led to an entirely new subgenre of role-playing games known as "Soulslikes." But while many studios have tried to mimic the famed Japanese developer's game design philosophy to varying results, few have come close to offering the same breathtaking experiences.

Granted, as the grandfather of Soulslikes, FromSoftware simply knows its way around the genre like no other. And by maintaining extremely similar gameplay mechanics, controls, and UI elements across each game, the studio ensures that its games, though not directly connected, remain familiar to fans who have played previous entries in the series. The most consistent thing of all, though, is the consistently challenging combat and exploration, which has defined the series since the beginning and is often the most-cited reason players flock to the games.

Read more