Dedication to All of the Frustrating
Hours I've Spent Playing this Series

take me back plz :')

I have been also playing the other soulsborne games, but this is purely just for dark souls. Bloodborne is probably my favourite but I despise the chalice dungeons and they are required for 100% completion :')


This was the first souls game I 100% completed, so I have a bit of a soft spot for it. It is definitely not my favourite, but I still make sure to replay it every few months or so. One of the main reasons I finished it first was not only because it was the original, but it is also pretty short. All the bosses are also way more forgiving. Honestly, I thought completing it would take longer. The beginning is pretty quick but the last bit always feels like a slog. (Which is amusing since that's when you get the lordvessel)

Some people think that it is the hardest souls game, which I kinda agree with? The fast travel system kinda makes me want to walk into the ocean with rocks in my pockets and some of the bosses are pretty unpleasant. It just feels like an extra layer of frustration and repetitiveness when you can't fast travel from the get go like the other games. Another thing, if you aren't a filthy cheater who uses guides like me, you're pretty much screwed. I know people love to praise the interconnectedness of Dark Souls, but when you're a new player who doesn't know shit, it can be a real pain in the ass. Not to mention curse, shitty controls and poor framrates in the original.

But on the other hand, the game is pretty easy to break. Grinding is easy to do, you can pretty much cheese every enemy with backstabs and you have that one soul duplication glitch. However, I don't really feel like that is exactly a bad thing. Some people don't have the time to or have diffuculties playing games like Dark Souls traditionally. So, maybe... these glitches could be seen as almost a way to make the game more accessible? This, by all means, doesn't negate the jank of the game or make up for not having features to help disabled gamers. But hey, silver lining?

Despite how much I have been complaining, I really love this game. The lore is interesting, the fighting is brilliant, and the characters are all really compelling and easy to get attached to. When you think of Dark Souls characters, you think of Solaire, Siegmeyer and his daughter, or Big Hat Logan. When you think of Dark Souls areas, you think of Anor Londo, Blightown or the OG Firelink Shrine. Dark Souls 1 was the reason the Souls series took off in the way that it did, so you got to respect it for that.


When I first started playing Dark Souls 2, I had wanted to give the game a chance. Everyone said it was bad, that it was the worst Soul game. But, the gaming public has been wrong plenty of times before. I thought veryone was just being over dramatic... but then I reached Heide's Tower of Flame. I then quickly became someone who hated Dark Souls 2 with a burning passion. Everything felt wrong! The lock-on wasn't working, the entire game was just gank fights, and the level design was really unatural. Why did it take like 5 minutes to drink and heal hp from estus flasks?!

After a long, long time, I gave up. I put the game down after reaching the level design hell that is Iron Keep. It was just too much, and I felt bad after trying. I kept hearing this was the easiest Souls game! But yet I kept on dying! The game didn't make me feel good, it felt like a chore to get through. Nothing was interesting, I had nothing keeping me playing.

But, I then watched Hbomberguy's video on Dark Souls 2. I wanted to see the opinion of someone who liked Dark Souls 2. In the video, Hbomb explains how people misunderstand Dark Souls 2's game mechanics and how people rely on how they used to play DS1. After that video, I decided to retry Dark Souls 2. I felt like it might be better with this added knowledge with how the game is supposed to be played and enjoyed. And, something really cool happened... I had fun!

I was able to get over the weird mechanics and finally understand the devs intentions. I then quickly fell in love with Dark Souls 2, warts and all. It's not perfect, some of the enemies do seem a bit repetitive and I still hate gank fights. But an important thing to remember, which I feel a lot of people forget, is that Dark Souls isn't just difficulty. It's also about the environmental story telling, the music and the characters. To be honest, Dark Souls 2 has probably have some of my favourite characters. Lucatiel is one of my favourite female video game characters of all time after all. The game even has a cat!

I do want to say though, Dark Souls 2 isn't everyone's cup of tea. I can definitly understand why someone doesn't like it. I was one of those people afterall. But, you do owe yourself to give it a try. I promise it's worth it.