Special: Dark Souls Diary #1

It has now been 4 months since Dark Souls first released back in October and only now have I managed to get my hands on the game. I am a massive fan of its prequel Demon’s Souls. Of which I platinumed after many hours of playtime. At times it was frustrating due to its difficulty but it provided one of the most engaging gaming experiences to date. Now I am only 3 hours in to Dark Souls but I’m already hooked. After I have managed to complete Dark Souls I will be sure to post my full thoughts on the game in a full review. However, until that time comes I thought it would be a good idea to share with you my Dark Souls Diary. I hope to keep you up to date with my progress in the game and show you the true difficulty of Dark Souls.

As mentioned I am just about 3 hours into the game and by no means has that 3 hours been an easy task. I’ve died quite a lot since starting. First of all before you enter the world of Dark Souls you must create your character. For this you need to choose their name, gender, class and general appearance. I set myself to go round by the name of Storm and decided that I would begin as a Knight as this was the class I chose on Demon’s Souls. As a Knight you begin with strong amour and weapons and have high attributes in strength. The class it perfectly fitted for melee preferred players – like me. With my character created I took the plunge and entered the Dark Souls world, whilst remaining quietly optimistic that I would be an expert in the game.

I entered the game locked in a gloomy asylum cell. Suddenly a dead body falls through the window at the top of the cell and lands at my feet. I pillage the corpse to find a key – the key to the cell door, and so begins my Dark Souls Adventure. After leaving the asylum cell you are gentle guided along a path by messages on the floor acting as a tutorial. These messages teach you basic movement and basic combat. After the quick tutorial it is up to you to fend for yourself. Shortly after this you are already engaged in combat with undead soldiers who are not as easy to defeat as you might think. The Undead Asylum is quite an atmospheric and tense level to play through. The corridors are dark and you don’t know what lurks behind each corner or in the dark.

As you come to an opening in the Asylum you discover a bonfire. Bonfires act as checkpoints in the game. Resting at a bonfire restores your health but also resets enemies, meaning the ones you have recently killed have respawned. You are probably thinking to yourself that this doesn’t seem that hard at all, but as you progress through a locked door you realise why this game is famous for its difficulty. In front of you stands a giant demon who is not friendly at all. One hit from his weapon are you are nearly dead already. It’s not a fight which you can win without a better weapon so you need to escape. The level design doesn’t make it that easy though; the door to safety is located in a precarious place – right under the demons nose. Timing is essential to make it past the demon alive. Once you make it past it only get’s harder, more undead soldiers wait for you around every corner. However, the worst has yet to come.

At a point you think that you have reached the end of the level as only a thick white fog stops you from progressing. As you pass through the fog it becomes clear that this is not a game for the faint hearted. The fog reveals the huge demon that you have just escaped from. The only way past is to defeat it. It’s a tough battle, one that requires patience. Blocking and timing attacks are essential as well as dodging it’s peculiar bum slams. If your new to the game you will probably die, you have been warned. Luckily I managed to beat the demon on my second attempt. But when you have finally defeated the demon you are onto the next level and the open world of Dark Souls.

What awaits you are more demons, and I mean a lot more. There is so much variety to the enemies you will encounter as well; from sword wielding skeletons, to undead rats, dragons and special boss battles. Every thing you come across has unique attacks and weaknesses and different strategies to adopt while in combat with them. One thing is for sure the abilities of each enemy you come across should not be underestimated.

After fighting my way through the game since the opening level I have managed to ring the bell at the Undead Parish (which opens the story). It wasn’t as easy as it sounds – if you pardon the pun. A boss battle awaited me before the bell tower. In fact a double boss battle awaited me – it was twin gargoyles. One could breathe fire and the other had devastating melee combat. It was a battle which I narrowly won. A piece advice if you ever find yourself with these two gargoyles in front of you, use lightening.

So this is how far I am into Dark Souls at the moment. It has been a difficult ride so far, but one that I am finding just a bit easier than the prequel. I say that I have still died a dozen times. However, I am sure it will only get harder. First impressions of the game are very positive ones. Until next time.