Three Days Dead – A Dark Souls Tale
It’s Tuesday. It’s late, and I know I don’t have a whole lot of time left in the day. Still, I have to get into Dark Souls. I get comfortable and fire up the game. The images on the screen almost make me do a double-take; did I accidentally grab my old Demon’s Souls disc? No. It just feels like I did. A smile creeps across my face.
As eager as I have been for the game, I had purposely avoided reading too much about the specifics. Now I find myself at the character creation screen. What class should I chose? Does it matter? Of course it does. Should I go with one of the better armed and equipped soldier classes? Perhaps I’ll try a magic-based class. That’s outside my comfort zone.
I’m a rogue at heart, and so I settle on the mysterious wanderer. A brief and beautiful introductory sequence shows glimpses of the horrors to come. Then I find myself alone in an unforgiving prison. Welcome to Dark Souls.
A handful of enemies linger about. They’ve gone mad to the point that they don’t even fight back. The game is giving me an opportunity to get used to the controls. To find my footing. To figure out how it all works. It would be one of the last nice things the game would do for me.
It doesn’t take long — a moment or two really — to find that Dark Souls had kept very true to its roots. I feel right at home. Or, at least, as much as one can feel at home in a game like Dark Souls. As I venture about the prison, I am introduced to the new ‘bonfire’ check-point system. Checkpoints? I can’t help but think the game had gone soft.
It hadn’t.
I wouldn’t realize it that night, but the game was simply saying that I should forget about areas being defined by teleportation points. The world is now more seamless. Gone are the days of loading screens and teleportation in order to spend my acquired souls. A mechanical convenience, bonfires were not there to make the game easier.
From that point on, Dark Souls would hold nothing back. The enemies are now armed, and they are deadly. I revisit that first bonfire a handful of times as my naive and careless proceedings lead to quick, unapologetic deaths. And then there is the gargantuan beast guarding the exit.
This wasn’t the typical “tutorial over, have a nice day” encounter. No “helpful hints” popped up to hold my hand through a recap of all the game’s mechanics. This creature didn’t flash when exposed for attack, or even pause to allow me a moment to think. His bus-sized club battered down upon me, eager to send me back to that bonfire. No, this wasn’t a “gimme” boss. I was going to have to actually try to beat this guy.
A few attempts later, I succeed. That wasn’t so bad. My reward? I escaped the prison only to be dropped in the middle of an equally foreign land. A single NPC sat nearby. He’ll tell me where to go, right? I don’t remember what he actually told me, but I believe the dialog went something like this:
“Oh, you’re free now too? Good luck, moron. You should have stayed in jail.”
And that was that. I was alone to find my own path. It shouldn’t be too hard though. I can clearly see a set of ruins and a path leading somewhere important-looking. Poking around, I find a hidden area with a stash of goodies. I’m already feeling productive. This isn’t so different than last time, and my experience in Demon’s Souls is already paying off.
This should be easy.
Nothing is easy in Dark Souls. I should know better. Still, I can’t help but feel a little smug. And then I find the skeleton warriors. Finally, a good fight.
Shit. I’m dead, already? I couldn’t even dent their health! No worries. I’m still having trouble getting the timing down on this whole parry thing. I’m sure I’m just doing it wrong. Time to try again.
. . . An hour later, and I’ve died at least a dozen times. I’m poking around, hoping to find a way around the skeletons. I mean, I obviously have to go this way, right? There’s a path, and there’s enemies. What am I missing . . .
Shit. More deaths. I can’t figure this damn thing out! I’ve had enough; time to grab my trusty android and see what I’m missing. I typically don’t like to read walk-throughs, but I’ll be damned if I can figure this out on my own.
I’m going the wrong way. These skeletons are supposed to kick my ass, and I’m helpless to do anything about it. The correct path can be found by taking a right back where I so blindly charged ahead up the path. Because the path was obvious, and I had let that prevent me from seeing the detail I needed to see. That wouldn’t be the first time it happened either.
But for now, I was finally on my way somewhere where I could succeed. And after a few more deaths at the hands of enemies I had a fighting chance of beating, I did it. I made it to the first ‘bonfire’. I had gotten somewhere. And it only took me . . . damn. I should have gone to bed over an hour ago. I guess I’ll stop here for the night even if my hands on the controller are burning for more.
It’s Wednesday. Another busy day. It’s recording day for the podcast; that’s going to cut into my Dark Souls time. Still, I have little else to do so I should be able to get some quality time in once the mic goes silent. With recording finished and dinner dined upon, I settle in for some more death. Tonight, my goal is to simply grind the enemies around the bonfire to build experience. I also need enough souls to buy a bow and some arrows. Nothing comes free or easy in Dark Souls.
As I practice fighting these low-level enemies, I slowly explore more and more ground. It takes all night, but I eventually find that I can survive every enemy between me and the doorway leading to the first boss fight. I cash in my souls, and then give the fight a go. Unsurprisingly, I’m quickly killed. Even with the trick I had got a glimpse of when I read the walk-through the previous day, I know I’m still in for a tough fight.
It’s a matter of patience and practice, but by now, my nerves are shot. I’m making stupid mistakes before I even get to the boss, and they are costing me precious health potions. I can’t help but jump the trigger when trying to doge the boss’ massive attacks. I can beat him, but it won’t be tonight. I make peace with the fact that I’m not going to be able to salvage the humanity and souls I have accumulated, and call it a day.
It’s Thursday. Tonight I have nothing but time. I decide to grind souls a little more — it goes more quickly now that I can clear the entire area before returning to the bonfire to respawn the enemies and repeat the process. It’s not a glamorous way to spend my time, but I can already tell it’s helping. It’s not just the benefits from leveling up. I’m relearning the series’ most important lesson; that patience pays off and sloppiness kills. I’m finding the game’s rhythm.
I try my hand at the boss a few times, and find I’m not much closer to success. But today I’m rested. The cogs are spinning. I’m more attentive to my surroundings. I “get” it. There’s no cheating in Dark Souls – if you can find a way to give yourself an advantage, that’s what you need to do.
I start to dictate where I fight. I’m controlling the fight’s pace. I’m planning when I can use potions to heal without leaving myself defenseless to attack. And then a thought crosses my mind. A new tactic. It’s a “cheap” tactic, sure, but could it work? I try. It works. The boss is dead. More importantly, I am alive.
It’s at this point that most games would give me a new flaming sword or impressive new piece of armor. Instead, a brief message flashes across the screen.
“You have killed the demon!”
An exclamation point? That’s a hell of an atta’boy from a game like Dark Souls. But the message is quickly gone, and all I find is a new terrace leading to more death. That’s your reward in a world like this. A few moments later, I venture out too far into the daylight. A dragon swoops out of nowhere. It belches forth an impressive wall of fire. I’m dead again.
It’s time to wrap up day three, but I feel like I’ve accomplished something real. A feat of actual skill. For a gamer like me, that’s a rare feeling. It’s the feeling usually reserved for end credits. This was the first real boss.
Three days and countless deaths later, I’m fully hooked. Even the brooding feeling of despair that nags at the back of my head when I realize just what I’m in for isn’t enough to wane my addition.
This is Dark Souls.
[...] Steve played Dark Souls. Steve also died a lot, but he seemed to enjoy it quite a bit. [...]