Dark Souls

[Raptor]

Dark Souls is an open-world fantasy RPG, made by FROMSoftware. It was released in autumn 2011, almost 2 years later after the release of Demon's Souls when the devolopers gained a lot of popularity among hardcore gamers. Demon's Souls and recently Dark Souls are seen by its experienced fans as extremely difficult and unforgiving. But it's also seen as an amazing game due to its dark, mysterious and beautiful game design, such as story. The gameplay offers a lot of fun for hardcore gamers, as the game is really hard, but therefor challenging. Thanks to its complex but clear level system Dark Souls offers the player to finish the game in ones own and prefered fighting style. The devs really managed to set a dark and frightening atmosphere with their wonderful and suiting music, but I think you got it now! Don't want to lose your attention, so I get right to the point.

Even if you are not such a big fan of fantasy (Just like I was. I hated fantasy games, as I couldn't take them and their community serious. But I was also very stereotyping to this time) you should try it to experience something new for yourself. Gamers of the fantasy genre who haven't tried it yet should think about trying it too. Dark Souls' hostile and dark atmosphere will fascinate you. Unless you are looking for a merry, romantic or easy game.

I'd like to sum up the story of Dark Souls for you, BUT if you have already enough of reading my gibberish, feel free to skip to the videos.

If those can't draw your interest nothing of this thread will. Anyways:

In a world that seems to be England just in a fictional age, you as an undead are facing the end of your kind. It was the Age of Fire when gods

and demons, undead and cursed managed to keep one another alive through the flames of Lord Gwyn. Lit bonfires resurrected all of your kind.

Bonfires and Gwyn kept you alive as they regained your streangth, but now the flames are fading and the Age of Darkness, the Age of Mankind is ahead. As the chosen one (obviously) you first don't know about your destiny. As a matter of interest and curiosity you travel around the land but after sometime, when you proved yourself as worthy, you are being told about your true destiny. Lord Gwyn tried to resist nature by trying to keep the flames "alive". Stopping them from fading and so stopping the turn to the Age of Mankind. You have to kill him, so the world can go on on its correct way. You first have to kill all of Gwyn's former followers and the other keepers of the Lord Soul (The Lord Soul is giving them their god like powers) and then you will be able to pass the gate that leads to Gwyn's hiding place. Kill him and you will have the choice: Light the god flame to keep your kind alive and to continue, just like Gwyn, the Age of Fire or fulfill your destiny and start the Age of Dark, the Age of Mankind, with your new god like powers.

But be aware. Your journey will be long... and tough. So prepare to die, A LOT.

(You can correct me if I'm wrong, but that is how I understood the story so far.)

Two trailers and one review of Dark Souls.

Dark Souls Trailer

New DLC ahead of us and it will be extremely difficult. "Prepare to DIE edition - Arotrias of the Abyss DLC". Awesome trailer!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkVyQCK2K8c

This should explain how awesome Dark Souls is. With this you would not need to read the rest of this thread anymore.

Due to Dark Souls challenging difficulty it brings a lot of players to rage quit. But somehow, it also brings the player back to the game

as he wants to re-try and this time win the fight. It's frustrating sometimes, but that just pushes the ambition of the gamer.

"But if Dark Souls is really that great, how does it come that it doesn't get much attention?"

It does get some attention. People heard of it, but it deserves much MUCH more, as it is a masterpiece in my opinion.

It has only been released for consoles so far, but now it will also be released for the PC. Maybe it's just because console gamers

had their attention on other mainstream games, which have been released in or around autumn 2011, but the release of a PC version

will hopefully get more peoples' attention now. It will be available on Steam so I thought this is the time to make a thread about it.

tldr;

Buy and play it. It's worth it. Totally.

I'm usually not such a huge nerd when it comes down to video games, but Dark Souls just changed my mind about fantasy games.

Edited August 23, 2012 by Raptor

[Clavus]

Waiting for that Steam version. Sucks it has GFWL though.

[Reap3r]

hmm thinking about buying it, just hoping hardcore mode can be played on first try

[Raptor]

It's hardcore from the beginning, dude! Don't think, buy buy buy