Dark Souls
| Dark Souls | |
|---|---|
 Box art | |
| Developer(s) | From Software |
| Publisher(s) | JP From Software NA Namco Bandai Games EU Namco Bandai Games AU Namco Bandai Partners |
| Director(s) | Hidetaka Miyazaki |
| Composer(s) | Motoi Sakuraba[1] |
| Engine | PhyreEngine[2] |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 3 Xbox 360 Microsoft Windows |
| Release date(s) | PlayStation 3 & Xbox 360 JP September 22, 2011 (PS3 only) NA October 4, 2011 AU October 6, 2011 EU October 7, 2011 Microsoft Windows AU August 23, 2012 NA August 24, 2012 EU August 24, 2012 |
| Genre(s) | Action role-playing, open world |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, online multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | |
| Media/distribution | Optical disc, download |
Dark Souls is an action role-playingopen world video game developed and published for PlayStation 3by From Software in Japan. It was published for PlayStation 3 andXbox 360 by Namco Bandai Games internationally.[3] Previously referred to as Project Dark, it is the spiritual successor to Demon's Souls.[4] 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.[5] The game is known for its considerable difficulty, which has prompted much interest and discussion.[6] A PC version was released on August 24, 2012. The downloadable content and the Prepare to Die edition were announced for both consoles and will be released on October 23, 2012 in North America, and on October 24 in Europe and Australasia.[7]
Contents[hide] |
[edit]Gameplay
Gameplay consists of dungeon crawling in almost relentlessly hostile environments. The challenging nature of the game provides a foundation of achievement and reward, reinforced by penalties upon player death. Dark Souls takes place in a large and contiguousopen world environment, with the player able to travel to and from areas and explore various available paths seamlessly. Bonfires are scattered throughout the world; these represent the sole areas of rest and function as checkpoints. Resting at a bonfire causes all non-boss enemies to respawn, but also refills the player's supply of estus flasks (healing items), sorceries, miracles, and pyromancies. The player can be in either undead form or human form, and death in human form reverts the player to undead form. In undead form, the player is unable to kindle bonfires or summon help from other players; at the same time, players in undead form cannot be invaded by other players. Death in either form results in the loss of all carried souls and humanity, both of which act as forms of currency in the world, though they are each used for different purposes. The player has one chance to recollect the souls and humanity by reaching the location of his death; failing this, the items are permanently lost.
Souls are awarded upon killing any enemy, with the amount rewarded generally being proportional to the toughness of the enemy. Humanity on the other hand is significantly rarer. Some enemies have higher chances of dropping humanity. It is required to switch from undead to human form or to kindle bonfires (which itself requires the player to be in human form). Humanity also has several subtle effects on gameplay, such as increasing the item discovery rate or buffing some of the player's resistances. Certain weapons also scale in damage considerably with the possession of humanity.
Dark Souls features an online mode which is active whenever the console is connected to the internet. The online mode adds numerous dynamic interactions between the individual players, including limited co-op and player versus player, within certain conditions. Communication between players is deliberately limited. If the player is in "party chat" on the 360, the game will be set to offline mode, on the other hand, private chat between two players at a time is allowed.
The online interactions can facilitate a great amount of PvP activity. Under certain conditions, one player can invade another player's world with the goal of killing the other player. Some areas of the game have been designated unofficial PvP hotspots by the community; in these areas it is common to find hundreds of players either invading or waiting to be invaded in order to engage in 1v1 duels. Two elements of skill are generally involved in PvP: the dueling itself, which relies on reflexes and on-the-spot thinking, and the planning and development of the character build, which involves carefully engineering the character's stats to reap maximum benefits from a chosen configuration of armor and weapons.
[edit]Plot
Dark Souls has a 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 Lords of Fire 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 Sunlight, 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 player character is an Undead, who has yet to become Hollow. The protagonist 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, one in the heights of the Undead Parish and the other far, far below in the poisonous swamp at the base of Blighttown, 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. In Linking the Fire, Gwyn sacrificed himself, becoming the Lord of Cinder. The Age of Dark will erase this curse. Kaathe implies that the prophecy of the Chosen Undead espoused by Frampt is a lie crafted by the gods to trick the player into sacrificing himself in order to prolong the tyranny of the old order of deities; indeed, Kaathe implies that the deity status of Gwyn et al. is only granted to them by the primordial Flame so long as it is kindled. The player must come to his or her own conclusion regarding whether Frampt or Kaathe is telling the truth.
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. Once the character has slain him, the player is given a vague choice which affects the ending. The player may choose to either sacrifice himself in order to re-kindle the Flame and prolong the rule of the existing order of deities or to let the Flame wither and die, ushering in the Age of Dark (or of Humanity as Kaathe would suggest).
[edit]Reception
| [hide] Reception | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
| Aggregator | Score |
| GameRankings | (PS3) 88.56%[8] (X360) 88.43%[9] |
| Metacritic | (PS3) 89/100[10] (X360) 89/100[11] |
| GameStats | (PS3) 8.9/10[12] (X360) 8.9/10[13] |
| Review scores | |
| Publication | Score |
| 1UP.com | A[12] |
| Edge | 9/10[10] |
| Eurogamer | (UK) 9/10[14] (Italy) 9/10[10] (Portugal) 9/10[10] (Sweden) 10/10[10] |
| Famitsu | 37/40[15] |
| G4 | 5/5[12] |
| GamePro |  [10] |
| Game Revolution | A-[10] |
| GameSpot | 9.5/10[12] |
| GamesTM | 9/10[10] |
| GamesRadar | 9/10[12] |
| GameTrailers | 9.2/10[12] |
| GameZone | 9/10[12] |
| IGN | 9.0/10[12] |
| Official PlayStation Magazine(UK) | 9/10[10] |
| Official Xbox Magazine (UK) | 9/10[10] |
| PALGN | 10/10[16] |
| Play Magazine | 90%[10] |
| PSM3 | 9.1/10[10] |
| Metro GameCentral | 9/10[10] |
| The Telegraph | [17] |
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."[15]
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."[14]
Writing for Slate, Michael Thomsen asked if a 100-hour video game was ever worthwhile, writing:
There is real beauty in Dark Souls. It reveals that life is more suffering than pleasure, more failure than success, and that even the momentary relief of achievement is wiped away by new levels of difficulty. It is also a testament to our persistence in the face of that suffering, and it offers the comfort of a community of other players all stuck in the same hellish quagmire. Those are good qualities. That is art. And you can get all of that from the first five hours of Dark Souls. The remaining 90 or so offer nothing but an increasingly nonsensical variation on that experience.[29]
Jason Killingsworth wrote a response to Thomsen's review for Edge:
Thomsen mentions that we could use that 100 hours to train for a marathon. Dark Souls’ vertigo-inducing breadth makes it the gaming equivalent of a marathon...Reading War And Peace? Dark Souls immerses us in war, and lots of it. But it also lets us taste the most incredible peace – sublime moments of quiet interspersed between the violence like rests in a musical score...Taking a roadtrip from New York to Los Angeles and back again? Dark Souls invites us on a journey that makes the sights of middle America pale in comparison...invites us to criss-cross a world. To adore games is to be an insatiable wanderer. When I finished my long trek through Dark Souls, do you know what I did? I clicked on the New Game+ option and began all over again. And I didn’t look sheepishly at the clock on the wall to beg its permission.[30]
Post-release, the game's director, Hidetaka Miyazaki, contemplated adding an easier difficulty level, saying: "Dark Souls is rather difficult and a number of people may hesitate to play. This fact is really sad to me and I am thinking about whether I should prepare another difficulty that everyone can complete or carefully send all gamers the messages behind our difficult games."[31] Namco Bandai claimed Miyazaki's statement was mistranslated, and should have read "This fact is really sad to me and I am thinking about how to make everyone complete the game while maintaining the current difficulty and carefully send all gamers the messages behind it."[32]
Namco Bandai’s yearly financial report stated that the game sold 1.19 million units in the United States and Europe by March 2012.[33]
[edit]Awards
Game Revolution gave Dark Souls the Community Choice Game of the Year award.[20] IncGamers also gave it the "Game of the Year" award.[21] Q-Games' Dylan Cuthbert and Double Fine Productions' Brad Muir chose Dark Souls as Game of the Year.[18] Electronic Gaming Monthly's Eric L. Patterson chose it as Game of the Year.[19] GameTrailersgave it the "Best Role-Playing Game" award,[22] while also nominating it for the "Best Multiplayer Game", "Best Trailer" and "Game of the Year" awards.[34] GameZone gave the game the "Best Action/Adventure" award and chose it as the runner-up for the "Best RPG" award.[24]
The Daily 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".[35] TeamXbox gave it an honorable mention as the runner-up for the "Best RPG" award.[25] 1UP.com gave it the "Most Rewarding Game" award.[36] Game Informer gave it the award for "Best Boss Fight" (Sif).[27] It also received the "Best Boss Fights" awards from GameSpot, including both the Editors' Choice and Readers' Choice awards.[28] Famitsu gave it an Award of Excellence in its 2012 awards ceremony.[26]
[edit]PC version
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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:[39]
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?
On January 6, 2012, fans started a petition to bring Dark Souls to PC, with over 92,000 people signing it.[40] On January 13, Tony Shoupinou replied by saying:[41]
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.
The PC version of the game was confirmed on April 7, 2012 via the PC Action magazine.[42] Re-branded as Prepare to Die Edition, it came out in August 2012 and featured new content, including bosses, enemies, equipment, and NPCs.[43]The new content, titled Artorias of the Abyss, will be released for consoles in October 2012 in the form of DLC.[44] Soon after it was announced that Dark Souls for PC would use Games for Windows – Live for online play and DRM, spurring fan backlash.[45] However, the final release uses Steamworks as its DRM along with GFWL for online play for all versions of the game[46][47] i.e., the game requires both a Steam and GFWL account, similar to Dawn of War II.
The PC version of the game was released on August 23, 2012. While it had been known during the development process that From Software had been having difficulty with the port due to inexperience with PC as a platform,[48] a user onNeoGAF named Durante purportedly made a mod to fix the resolution cap shortly after release.[49]
GameSpy stated it was "one of the worst ports they had ever seen."[50] Eurogamer also commented on the quality of the port, stating:
Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition does not come with the technical options you would expect from a well-engineered PC game, because it's a port of a console game, and that's all From Software ever promised to deliver. Anyone who passes up Dark Souls for this reason is cutting off their nose to spite their neckbeard of a face.[51]
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