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Dark Souls (video game)

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For the 2011 film, see Dark Souls (film).
Dark Souls
Developer(s)From Software
Publisher(s)
Director(s)Hidetaka Miyazaki
Composer(s)Motoi Sakuraba[2]
EnginePhyreEngine[3]
Platform(s)PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Release
  • JP: September 22, 2011[1]
    (PS3 only)
  • NA: October 4, 2011[1]
  • AU: October 6, 2011[1]
  • EU: October 7, 2011[1]
Genre(s)Action role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player, online multiplayer

Dark Souls (ダークソウル, Dāku Souru) is an action role-playing game developed and published for PlayStation 3 by From Software in Japan, and published for both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 by Namco Bandai Games internationally.[4] Previously referred to as Project Dark, Dark Souls is the spiritual successor to Demon's Souls.[5] It was released in Japan on September 22, 2011, on October 4 in North America, on October 6 in Australia and on October 7 in Europe of the same year.[1] Like its predecessor, the game is known for its high level of difficulty, which has prompted much interest and discussion.[6]

Gameplay

The game consists of play in hostile environments and exploits the player's sanity instilled by risk versus reward game mechanics and penalties upon player death. Dark Souls takes place in an open world environment, with the player able to travel to and from areas and explore various available paths. Dark Souls allows players to light Bonfires, which function as respawn locations.[7] These bonfires also replenish health, magic, and special items like Estus flasks - limited vials that restore health. However, resting at one will respawn all enemies previously defeated, except for bosses and certain special enemies.[8] The player must fight their way through various locations and defeat bosses to progress.

Dark Souls features an elaborate online mode, very much like that of Demon's Souls, which is active whenever the console is connected to the internet (an Xbox Live Gold subscription is required on the Xbox 360 version). The online mode adds numerous dynamic interactions between the individual worlds players, including limited co-op and player versus player within certain conditions. Communication between players is deliberately limited.

Plot

Like its predecessor Demon's Souls, Dark Souls has a notably minimalistic plot. Events and their significance are often implicit and left to player interpretation rather than fully shown or explained. Much of the story and lore of the world is given to the player through dialogue from characters within the world, item descriptions, or the scarce cutscenes. It is up to the player to put the pieces together.

In the founding of the universe, the earth was unformed, covered in crags, and dragons held sole dominion over the world. However, The Fire of Lords along with the human race eventually came into existence for reasons long lost to time. From the Dark, which gained meaning in contrast to Light from the newly kindled flame, emerged four powerful entities--Nito, the first of the dead; the Witch of Izalith and her daughters of chaos; Gwyn, the Lord of Cinder, and his faithful knights; and the furtive pygmy, so easily forgotten--who harnessed the Souls of Lords to combat the dragons, eventually overthrowing them and launching humanity and their new lordly gods into a golden era known as the Age of Fire.

The protagonist is a male or female Undead, who has yet to become Hollow. He or She escapes from the northern Undead Asylum with the help of another Undead and learns of the prophecy concerning a chosen Undead who leaves the Undead Asylum in pilgrimage and rings the two Bells of Awakening in the land of the ancient lords, Lordran.

Once the character has rung the Bells of Awakening, the gate leading to Sen's Fortress and Anor Londo is opened, and the Primordial Serpent Kingseeker Frampt is awoken. He tells the player that he or she is the Chosen Undead who must succeed Lord Gwyn and remove the affliction of the Darksign. It is implied that Frampt is very old and has awaited the protagonist's arrival for a very long time. To achieve this given task, the character must get the Lordvessel from the land of Anor Londo, a forsaken city bathed in sunlight. When the task is done, the character must obtain the four powerful Lord Souls: one from Seath the Scaleless, the proud dragon who betrayed his own out of deep anger over his lack of immortality; one from the Four Kings, ancient rulers of New Londo who fell to Dark and were banished to the Abyss; one from the Bed of Chaos, a mass of life and the source of all demons which was the result of the failed experiments of the Witch of Izalith to recreate the primeval Flame; and Gravelord Nito, the first of the dead.

However, in the Abyss if the player has not placed the Lordvessel on the altar at that point then he or she can instead meet Darkstalker Kaathe, a different Primordial Serpent who opposes Frampt. After informing the player that he or she is a direct descendent of the pygmy, who obtained the Dark Soul, Kaathe will present the protagonist with a different path: to end the Age of Fire and "usher in the Age of Dark." Kaathe stated that Gwyn had wished to "avoid the course of nature," prolonged the Age of Fire, and in doing so branded undead with the Darksign, which only caused suffering. The Age of Dark will erase this curse.

After offering the four Lord Souls to the Lordvessel, with the help of either Frampt or Kaathe, the character must go on to defeat Gwyn, the Lord of Cinder. Once the character has slain him, the player is given a vague choice which affects the ending. By choosing to link the fire, the character continues the Age of Fire and is consumed entirely by the fire as it burns intensely bright. The screen then goes white, before fading to dark as the credits roll. By choosing not to link the fire, the protagonist instead walks out of the area and is greeted by Primordial Serpents who bow down to the character, accepting him or her as the Dark Lord and the Age of Dark begins.

Reception

Dark Souls received universal critical acclaim. Famitsu gave the game a highly positive review, scoring it 37 out of 40, based on four scores of 9, 9, 9, and 10. One of the reviewers for Dark Souls described it as "a very hardcore dark-fantasy RPG" that is "role-playing right down to the roots," and stated that the "massive field map and powerful enemies serve to rev up both your sense of adventure and your sense of dread." Another reviewer stated that "the sheer happiness you get after the trial-and-error pays off and you overcome the challenge is absolutely impossible to replicate."[12]

GameSpot scored Dark Souls a 9.5/10, complimenting just about every aspect of it. Much praise was given to the online system, as well as the sense of jubilation felt when conquering boss fights after numerous failed attempts. They also suggested that casual gamers may struggle to progress, whereas RPG enthusiasts will thrive on the difficulty.

IGN gave Dark Souls a 9.0/10, praising the well-thought out level design, variety, strong emphasis on online features, excessively dark tone and atmosphere and deep gameplay. They also noted that it is not a game that one can simply jump into and play for plain enjoyment. They went as far to say that it is not a game for the timid and that the game requires both skill and strategy almost all the time. While praising the extremely high difficulty, they stated that "there's a difference between punishing, and downright unfair."

Eurogamer gave Dark Souls 9/10, saying "If adventure is to surprise and mystify you and invite you to uncover the secrets of a forgotten world, then Dark Souls is a great adventure game. If entertainment is fun without failure and progress without pain, you'll have to find it somewhere else. But you'll be missing out on one of the best games of the year."[11]

Awards

Game Revolution gave Dark Souls the Community Choice Game of the Year award.[17] IncGamers also gave it the "Game of the Year" award.[18] Q-Games' Dylan Cuthbert and Double Fine Productions' Brad Muir chose Dark Souls as Game of the Year.[15] Electronic Gaming Monthly's Eric L. Patterson chose it as Game of the Year.[16] GameTrailers gave it the "Best Role-Playing Game" award, beating other high-profile releases such as The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Deus Ex: Human Revolution.[19] GameTrailers also nominated Dark Souls for the "Best Multiplayer Game", "Best Trailer" and "Game of the Year" awards.[29] GameZone gave the game the "Best Action/Adventure" award and chose it as the runner-up for the "Best RPG" award.[21] RPGFan gave it the "Best Action RPG"[24] award and also chose it as the runner-up for the "Best RPG" award.[22]

The Telegraph gave the game the "Best Integration of Online Features" award, and nominated it for the awards of "Best Director" (Hidetaka Miyazaki), "Best Level Design", "Best Sound Design", "Best Original Score" (Motoi Sakuraba), "Best Developer" (From Software), and "Game of the Year".[28] TeamXbox gave it an honorable mention as the runner-up for the "Best RPG" award.[23] 1UP.com gave it the "Most Rewarding Game" award.[25] Game Informer gave it the award for "Best Boss Fight" (Sif).[26] It also received the "Best Boss Fights" awards from GameSpot, including both the Editors' Choice and Readers' Choice awards.[27]

PC version

Following the game's release, many gamers expressed their hope for a PC version of the game. Namco Bandai administrator, Tony Shoupinou responded on their page that a PC version was possible, saying: "There is always possibilities to have games adapted on PC and the good news is that Dark Souls is not a 100% typical Console game so the adaptation is possible. Now to make things happen, let's say the demand has to be properly done. Someone to make a successful petition?"[30]

On January 6th 2012 fans started a petition to bring Dark Souls to PC, with over 82,600 people signing it in the first 2 weeks.[31] On January 13th Tony Shoupinou replied by saying: “Damn you are amazing! I honestly wasn’t expecting such a massive support. My boss(es) even came to talk to me about this, after it exploded all around the world. If you wanted to have the attention of Namco Bandai Games, now you have it. The future is in your hands, and I hope you will keep supporting this. I make a personal objective to make sure every relevant person at Namco Bandai Games is in touch with this formidable effort”.[32]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Anoop Gantayat (May 11, 2011). "Dark Souls Arriving First in Japan". andriasang. Retrieved May 11, 2011.
  2. ^ Jayson Napolitano (September 29, 2011). "Big names behind Dark Souls soundtrack". Retrieved September 29, 2011.
  3. ^ "Face-Off: Dark Souls". Digital Foundry. October 5 2011. Retrieved 9 October 2011. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ Anoop Gantayat (February 1, 2011). "Demon's Souls Followup Officially "Dark Souls"". andriasang. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
  5. ^ Andy Robinson (February 4, 2011). "Dark Souls 'is not a sequel to Demon's Souls' - Dev". ComputerAndVideoGames.com. Retrieved February 5, 2011.
  6. ^ Jeff Bakalar, Scott Stein, Dan Ackerman (October 7, 2011). "Is Dark Souls too hard?". CNET.com. Retrieved December 19, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ Parker, Max. "Hidetaka Miyazaki Talks Dark Souls". The Game Guy. Retrieved September 22, 2011.
  8. ^ Pickard, James. "Dark Souls hands-on preview [360/PS3]". Retrieved September 22, 2011.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Dark Souls". Metacritic. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h "Dark Souls". GameStats. Retrieved 19 December 2011.
  11. ^ a b Welsh, Oli (2011-10-03). "Dark Souls Review • Page 1 • Reviews •". Eurogamer.net. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
  12. ^ a b Gifford, Kevin (2011-09-14). "Japan Review Check: Dark Souls". 1UP.com. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
  13. ^ Markovic, Denny (21 October 2011). "Dark Souls Review". PALGN. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  14. ^ Parkin, Simon (3 October 2011). "Dark Souls review". The Telegraph. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  15. ^ a b c "Developers' Games of 2011". Eurogamer. 2 January 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  16. ^ a b Patterson, Eric L. (December 19, 2011). "EGM'S BEST OF 2011: ERIC L. PATTERSON'S PICKS". Electronic Gaming Monthly. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  17. ^ a b "Community Choice Game of the Year". Game Revolution. December 23, 2011. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  18. ^ a b Robertson, John (25 December 2011). "Game of the Year 2011: #1 - Dark Souls". IncGamers. United Kingdom. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  19. ^ a b "Best Role-Playing Game". GameTrailers. December 28, 2011. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  20. ^ "Best of 2011:Best RPG". Games.cz. Tiscali. 6 January 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  21. ^ a b c Splechta, Mike (December 29, 2011). "GameZone's Game of the Year Awards Day 3: Genre Awards". GameZone. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
  22. ^ a b "Best RPG of 2011". Games of the Year 2011. RPGFan. 2011. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
  23. ^ a b Lord, Jesse (December 29, 2011). "TeamXbox Best RPG of 2011". TeamXbox. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  24. ^ a b "Best Action RPG of 2011: Dark Souls (PS3, Xbox 360)". Games of the Year 2011. RPGFan. 2011. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
  25. ^ a b "1UP's Best of 2011 Awards: Editors' Picks". 1UP.com. December 22, 2011. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  26. ^ a b Juba, Joe (December 30, 2011). "The 2011 RPG Of The Year Awards". Game Informer. p. 2. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  27. ^ a b "GameSpot's Best of 2011 Special Achievements". GameSpot. 30 December 2011. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  28. ^ a b "Telegraph video game awards 2011". The Telegraph. 27 December 2011. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  29. ^ "GameTrailers Game of the Year Awards 2011". GameTrailers. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  30. ^ http://www.fz.se/artiklar/nyheter/20120108/vill-du-ocksa-ha-dark-souls-till-pc
  31. ^ "Petition: Dark Souls for PC". 6 January 2012.
  32. ^ Grayson, Nathan (January 13, 2012). "Dark Souls PC petition at nearly 70,000 signatures, Namco listening". PC Gamer. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
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