Dark Souls is a masterpiece, exceptionally influential, and often considered among the best video games ever made, yet as it turns 14 years old, it’s a game that would likely not be well-received if it were to come out today. Originally released in Japan on September 22, 2011, Dark Souls is largely responsible for birthing the soulslike RPG sub-genre, despite most of its conventions being laid down in 2009’s Demon Souls, and many elements appearing in FromSoftware’s even earlier King’s Field series.
Dark Souls became the watershed release for soulslikes because it was a phenomenon. It quickly gained a reputation for being exceedingly difficult, for being a game where you would die many times, but one that could be mastered, provided you were willing to learn. It was unapologetic in how it wanted to punish players, even going so far as to name its 2012 PC port the Prepare to Die Edition. Dark Souls‘ legacy lives on, but even FromSoftware’s notoriously difficult games have sacrificed their edge to become more approachable.
Dark Souls Wanted You To Suffer
And It Wanted You To Learn
As Dark Souls became the poster child for games that demanded their players “git gud,” the culture and marketing surrounding it were far more galvanizing than Dark Souls itself. Lordran is an incredibly dreary place, with a pervasive melancholy that’s more likely to evoke helplessness than determination. You’re given the broad strokes of a grand story involving usurper Lords and Everlasting Dragons before you awake in an asylum and get your teeth kicked in by the emaciated infirm and oversized, sewer-dwelling rats.
Combat is the primary challenge of Dark Souls and its descendants, and the main facet of the game that demands you meet it on its terms. Boss fights still have their due deference – and soulslike bosses have become a phenomenon all their own – but Dark Souls revels in its ability to kill you with chaff enemies. Dark Souls‘ tough-but-fair nature is arguably its greatest export.
There are all sorts of advice you can give to FromSoftware newcomers: be patient and go slow, learn attack patterns, watch your equipment load, specialize in only a few attributes. But the most common refrain is, “Just keep trying, eventually it will click.” And it’s true. I remember when it happened to me, around the dragon-guarded bridge in the Undead Burg: the game suddenly clicks, turning skeptics into fanatics.
But for all its fairness in demanding you simply become better at certain mechanics, the original Dark Souls cultivates active hostility toward the player with others. Most of your time in Dark Souls is spent on a dangerous trek searching for the next bonfire, and for the first half of the game, you’re not allowed to fast travel. You’re given very little direction, and can end up quite far from the relative safety of Firelink Shrine without access to any upgrades other than gaining levels at bonfires.
Even further, bonfires are often punishing in their placement. Enemies placed between a fog door and the nearest bonfire are an intended part of Dark Souls‘ challenge, and some are overly long. Perhaps most egregious is the nearest bonfire to Seath the Scaleless’ boss arena – you have to exit the Duke’s Archives, make your way through a courtyard, and navigate the invisible walkways in the Crystal Cave. The run back takes about two minutes at minimum.
Dark Souls’ Hostile Mechanics Would Be Reviled Today
Even FromSoftware Abandoned Them
There’s no denying the importance of Dark Souls, but it’s ultimately a game that’s more influential than it was popular. It may not be the genesis of the soulslike sub-genre, but it was its breakout title. 14 years on, however, such games have abandoned many of Dark Souls‘ idiosyncrasies to be more palatable, even those developed by FromSoftware.
Elden Ring is almost entirely devoid of boss runbacks; either a Site of Grace is near at hand, or a Stake of Marika respawns you right outside the fog door. I’m personally ambivalent on the matter. I think it’s an unfortunate loss from a novel design standpoint, but as bosses continue to get harder, a dangerous run back to the arena can simply be too punishing. You also must take into account the fact that many enemies can easily be side-stepped. The infamous Seath runback doesn’t require combat, so it’s ultimately just a waste of time.
I do feel strongly about the prevalence of fast travel, though. In my opinion, the first Dark Souls is still the best in its trilogy, largely due to its level design. Lordran is built on top of itself, as a sort of labyrinth, and being unable to fast travel results in even small decisions having greater consequences. During your first playthrough, you don’t know where you’ll end up, and you have to explore to find out.
If fast travel were possible, you couldn’t get the catharsis of taking an elevator down from the Undead Parish and hearing the Firelink Shrine theme start playing. There’s no reason to prepare for the journey if you can just fast travel to a safe place and upgrade all your equipment whenever you want. But the game letting you wander off and get lost in an area you’re under-leveled for is detrimental to its approachability, and thus its broad appeal.
Even Dark Souls conceded that it needed fast travel – eventually. But because I had to scrape my way through most of Lordran before I got the Lordvessel, Dark Souls‘ map is seared into my brain more prominently than any other game, save for maybe The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
Dark Souls would get a lot of flak if it released today because of obtuse design decisions like limited fast travel and prevalent boss runbacks. The former, I think, would be divisive, with some seeing the intention behind it, but the latter is popularly hated. Boss runbacks have stepped back into gaming discourse because of the otherwise excellent Hollow Knight: Silksong, with many players arguing they add challenge to cover up poor boss design.
Runbacks can make sense in a game like Dark Souls, where the short-term goal is to manage your healing resources until you make it to the next checkpoint, but they’re clearly falling by the wayside as soulslikes grow more ambitious and bosses continue to become the primary attraction.
Dark Souls is an incredible game – one of my favorites – but as it turns 14 years old, it’s easier than ever to recognize its flaws. It wanted players to have a hard time, even if that meant jeopardizing the tough-but-fair design the series built its reputation on. Fans like me adore Dark Souls in spite of its flaws, but if it had been released in the current soulslike climate, I don’t think players would have been as kind towards it.
- Released
-
September 22, 2011
- ESRB
-
M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Violence
- Developer(s)
-
From Software
- Publisher(s)
-
Namco Bandai
- Engine
-
Havok
This story originally appeared on Screenrant
