Something about Dark Souls has been hitting hard in pandemic times. I've had 4 friends independently obsess over these games in the past few months. I think it has to do with its dank atmosphere that matches how so many people are feeling, stuck in their homes and not needing to shower or put on nice clothes for anyone, mixed with the sense that this is something you can dig deep into in various ways, between the base difficulty, various viable builds, and suggested-yet-obscured lore. Completing one of its labyrinthine areas can feel like an event that punctuates the day-to-day repetition of our mundane lives. If you squint hard enough, beating a boss in Dark Souls is sort of like grabbing drinks with your friends after a week of full-time office work.

I too got the bug, and it turns out Dark Souls is extremely good. After 4 failed attempts to get into this game, having my friends for guidance finally allowed me to push through, ensuring I didn't spend too much time wandering around for the path forward and recreating the community-based vibe of these games when they're new. I probably don't need to tell you that Dark Souls is meaty and satisfying to play, with obscenely good enemy and level design. What I will tell you is that it's less intimidating than it at first seems, that it's just a videogame with rules and strategies that it telegraphs relatively clearly, and that if you max out your Strength and Endurance and find a big enough axe, the game becomes almost trivially easy.