Support NeoGAF

[darkangel-212559]

Dark Souls has been out for many years now, and despite its age, still has a massive fan base and has a healthy player base across all platforms.

What is it about this game in particular that holds this unique allure for many gamers? It's a challenge, it's unforgiving, some areas are very poorly designed, and yet people keep playing it, even after it's two sequels. (Including myself).

What does Gaf think Dark Souls has going for it that has retained its popularity and fan base over the years?

Praise The Sun!

 

[Harlock]

Nioh?

 

[SantaC]

It is not even hard. Magic is so broken in Dark Souls 1.

 

[darkangel-212559]

It is not even hard. Magic is so broken in Dark Souls 1.

Hard is subjective though. I'm sure many people do find it hard.

 

[Codes 208]

My friend is the same way, I ended up making a comic about it once.

 

[Maiden Voyage]

I finally beat DS1 over the holiday break. I started up DS2 and have already beaten the first boss. I look forward to slowly making my way through it and finally beating it after 3-6 months.

For me, the appeal/longevity is the combat. It's intentional and fair.

 

[The Bloody-Nine]

I got the platinum for some reason. And I recently bought and beat the remastered version on PC. Just bragging...

 

[darkangel-212559]

I got the platinum for some reason. And I recently bought and beat the remastered version on PC. Just bragging...

Do you do challenge runs?

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

The challenge is a part of the popularity but I think most fans are drawn by the uniqueness of the franchise.

JRPGs had gotten so stale when Demons/Dark came out. It was refreshing to play an action game that handled stats, leveling, equipment, encumbrance, stamina, magic, multiplayer, NPC interaction, and even story progression in a different way. The music was also really... unusual for an RPG and it left a strong impression on me. It is one of those special "more than the sum of its parts" sort of games.

I'd compare Souls to the Gothic series: clunky, flawed, yet fascinating and endlessly replayable.

 

[TTOOLL]

Played it a lot when it was released but never finished it. I wanted to play the remaster for PS4 but somehow I decided to get DS3 instead. Wish me luck, I started today

 

[Ulysses 31]

Played it a lot when it was released but never finished it. I wanted to play the remaster for PS4 but somehow I decided to get DS3 instead. Wish me luck, I started today

Since DS3 is a direct sequel to DS1, you'll get more out of DS3 by playing DS1 first.

 

[TTOOLL]

Since DS3 is a direct sequel to DS1, you'll get more out of DS3 by playing DS1 first.

I did, a lot. I just didn't finish it, but I went far. I think it was the last game I played before I sold my PC and didn't touch a game for about 6 years.

 

[SLoWMoTIoN]

Hard is subjective though. I'm sure many people do find it hard.

It shouldn't be after your first play through.

 

[Phase]

It shouldn't be after your first play through.

Challenge runs. I've never had so much fun replaying a game than with different challenge runs in Dark Souls.

 

[The Bloody-Nine]

Do you do challenge runs?

Absolutely not. I'm only okay at Souls games.

 

[PocoJoe]

It is not even hard. Magic is so broken in Dark Souls 1.

Yeah dark souls arent hard or difficult games if you play by the rules aka dont rush like maniac.

I started from 3, then 2 then 1.

All pure mage characters, no armor or weapons or shields = no problems to complete them.

Usually mages are more difficult to play so I assume that melee is even easier.

So, they are not harder than other games unless played without being carefull which should be obvious in these "instakill games"

 

[edbrat]

Spell sword builds tend to be OP in Soulsborne games, glass cannon mage builds while tricky for a lot of people in the early-mid game, end up super OP in PVE by endgame. I played hundreds of hours across the games bc I loved the coop, helping out people with tricky bosses, dick invaders and levels is so much fun. PVP is pretty fun to see the creative builds some folk put together and to try out weird stuff yourself.

 

[darkangel-212559]

Yeah dark souls arent hard or difficult games if you play by the rules aka dont rush like maniac.

I started from 3, then 2 then 1.

All pure mage characters, no armor or weapons or shields = no problems to complete them.

Usually mages are more difficult to play so I assume that melee is even easier.

So, they are not harder than other games unless played without being carefull which should be obvious in these "instakill games"

Melee builds are far the hardest. They actually require you to get up close to bosses and enemies, make you take more damage by nature, get you to learn how to manage stamina and weight loads properly and overall require much more skill then magic only users.

Try running Dark Souls with no magic and then come back to me telling me how easy it is.

 

[The Cockatrice]

Melee builds are far the hardest. They actually require you to get up close to bosses and enemies, make you take more damage by nature, get you to learn how to manage stamina and weight loads properly and overall require much more skill then magic only users.

Try running Dark Souls with no magic and then come back to me telling me how easy it is.

I'm pretty sure anyone who says Dark Souls was easy did not play it blindly and has googled or looked up a lot of OP builds or secrets and whatever. It's not extremely difficult as some would make it either. It's just annoying and risky due to how enemies and death traps are placed and most people who finished it have memories of the later parts of the game which arguably have easier bosses overall.

 

[cormack12]

Unpopular opinion. but a lot of the draw for Dark Souls is because it's a game that carries a lot of 'gamer cred'. There's a lot of jank and performance issues there, cheap tactics but ultimately when you pull the layers back the game amounts to circle strafe, dodge/roll forward and memory/training. It's purely about time investment and whether you think it's worth it. Some of the games have great artistic direction but it's not enough personally for me. I got through Bloodborne eventually with a couple of summon on optional bosses and I liked seeing that world up until the Nightmare area's and frenzy which were poor.

A lot of people persist just to chase the gamer cred part I think

 

[AV]

It's the core loop that's addictive. Inching your way forward to the next bonfire while carefully deciding when and how to spend the limited resources you get, while uncovering new shortcuts or minor ways to make the game smoother, is immensely satisfying. At least, that's what kept me hooked.

 

[-Troid-]

I like challenging games in general. I think it all comes down to self-motivation. Playing a challenging game is like going to college as opposed to public school. You get a choice to do the former but not the latter.

Since you have that choice you're obviously already pretty invested in some aspect of it, so you'll naturally want to persevere through it even when it gets difficult.

Or at least that's how I see it, I get invested in challenging games because having your actions/interactions based on your skill/ability to strategize makes said interactive aspect of games feel all the more weighty.

 

[Virex]

It's not unforgiving if you get good. Souls games aren't hard. If you die its because of your own fault. Nothing rage inducing about not getting good enough

 

[kretos]

Played it a lot when it was released but never finished it. I wanted to play the remaster for PS4 but somehow I decided to get DS3 instead. Wish me luck, I started today

DS3 is the best DS game, get the dlc's too they are great

 

[Danjin44]

It's not unforgiving if you get good. Souls games aren't hard. If you die its because of your own fault. Nothing rage inducing about not getting good enough

None of the Souls and even Sekiro are crushing hard, but they do punish your mistakes. There is no learning curve to their combat system unlike games like DMC and Bayonetta, it easy for anyone pick it and play it. Difficulty comes from that both enemies and bosses can do good chunk of damage if you make a mistake, it forces you think about how you approach each enemies/bosses.

And that’s all there is to these games, there is no complex system going on or even smart AI.

 

[Isa]

I personally love the style, music, and lore. Sure the combat can be fun, but now that competitors are catching up in quality I actually prefer other titles more, though I love the magic and various builds one can make. The one thing my best friend and I dislike is the poor character editor. Nioh 2's characters look absolutely fantastic, with genuine beautiful ladies, and Code Vein also was pretty good. I have all the Souls games across multiple platforms but after other games I have a hard time coming back. The stuff I remember most is the characters and lore though, Prepare to Cry is my jam.

 

[Fbh]

I think it's just a landmark title. As much as some people seem to have a problem with the fact Dark Souls has been influential, I think it is one of the big franchises from last gen and while Demon Souls was this rather niche Ps3 exclusive, Dark Souls is the game that introduced it to a larger audience by making it multiplatform.

And it's a great game with fun combat, great bosses and mostly great level design. I agree some of the later areas aren't as good or feel rushed but overall the good massively outweighs the bad. And while it's generally considered rage inducing, I actually think it did some really smart stuff to reduce the rage and frustration like allowing you to activate some permanent changes to the world that remain even after you die like shortcuts or unique enemies that stay dead, as well as loot that you get to keep even if you die. So you could die but it was often "at least I got this shortcut now" or "at least this one enemy is dead now" or "at least I got a new sword" which really helped keep a sense of accomplishment even during failure, compared to a lot of other challenging games where you die and it basically feels like you just wasted 40 minutes.

 

[orborborb]

Dark Souls 1 stays compelling because the rules of the genre hadn't been standardized so there is still a sense of the unexpected when encountering a new location or seeing a new enemy or boss. Some people call this "bad design"

 

[Kadayi]

Stuff like that ^ is fascinating to me. Not only does he not level up, but he does not get hit by any of the bosses during a consecutive run of all 3 titles and also has time to answer stream questions whilst playing. I legitimately can't imagine being that devoted to a series of games, but I doff my cap to his dedication.

 

[Mexen]

I have 1-3 but too chicken to even unwrap them.

 

[tronics]

Invading people in Painted World never gets old.

 

[ChoosableOne]

Dark souls was fine as i remember it, not that much rage quits.

I started this series with Demon Souls with not knowing anything about it, and i dropped it after i died so many times(in 2 days) in front of that damn castle.
I picked it up 6 months later, because i paid for it and felt regret. I read some tactics and beat it with great joy(cheated with magic though), than i beat dark souls 2, 1, bloodborne in that order.

Nowadays i dropped Dark Souls 3, after giving it a second chance after 3 weeks. I don't know if it's harder or boring. Maybe i bored with this series-formula? I will give it another chance after my gamepass sub ended(busy tryin all that games).

They say Sekiro is more difficult and parry based. I don't have that courage anymore but eventually will try it too. I suck at parrying so it will be more painful i guess.