I love Dark Souls, but I also think Dark Souls is not a great videogame in 2022.
Having played the original Prepare To Die edition on Steam about 7 years ago and then playing the Remastered Edition in 2022, there were things that were already pretty rough back then, and oh boy, the game did not age well at all.
Well, let's get the bad out of the way. This game has super frustrating areas (Tomb of Giants, Lost Izalith, Crystal Cave, Blighttown), the game's second half is clearly half baked, there are some long distances between bonfires and bosses, almost zero accessability, runs like ass on PC (seriously, I was expecting the remastered edition to be more optimized, but oh well).
I was surprised to find some of the things I remembered as being very good turned out to actually not being that great this time around... Everyone loves to say DS1 had amazing level design, but I... didn't really think that's true for most areas. I mean, sure, there's Undead Asylum, Undead Burg, Sen's Fortress, most shortcuts are really well placed, levels (usually) MAKE SENSE. Even still, I think for a game so widely praised on its level design, most levels were actually "meh" at best. Even Anor Londo was really disappointing. It's so big, but actually kind of just empty. If you think about the "bonfire->O&S" path, it's mostly a long and straight corridor with not that many interesting bits. I think the level design was fine when the original released, but it's really not that impressive years later. Enemy placement is another point that I found way worse and unfun than I remembered.
Even still, it's impossible to deny the impact this game had on videogame history, and how many of its novel and interesting ideas were later polished and expanded on new From Software games (and other games as well). The game's atmosphere is truly unique, it's hidden lore and secrets are so interesting they gave birth to thousands of analysis videos over the years, some of the bosses are so amazing and memorable, combat is (although very sluggish) usually very satisfying when triumphing, the music and sound design are out of this world.
I seriously love the good parts of Dark Souls, I just don't think I can ignore the bad parts anymore, and I wonder why they were largely ignored by fans in the first place all those years ago. Objectively thinking, if it weren't for me already being familiarized with and having nostalgia for the game, I don't think I would have actually had much fun playing this time around, and I bet most fans wouldn't as well.
Having played the original Prepare To Die edition on Steam about 7 years ago and then playing the Remastered Edition in 2022, there were things that were already pretty rough back then, and oh boy, the game did not age well at all.
Well, let's get the bad out of the way. This game has super frustrating areas (Tomb of Giants, Lost Izalith, Crystal Cave, Blighttown), the game's second half is clearly half baked, there are some long distances between bonfires and bosses, almost zero accessability, runs like ass on PC (seriously, I was expecting the remastered edition to be more optimized, but oh well).
I was surprised to find some of the things I remembered as being very good turned out to actually not being that great this time around... Everyone loves to say DS1 had amazing level design, but I... didn't really think that's true for most areas. I mean, sure, there's Undead Asylum, Undead Burg, Sen's Fortress, most shortcuts are really well placed, levels (usually) MAKE SENSE. Even still, I think for a game so widely praised on its level design, most levels were actually "meh" at best. Even Anor Londo was really disappointing. It's so big, but actually kind of just empty. If you think about the "bonfire->O&S" path, it's mostly a long and straight corridor with not that many interesting bits. I think the level design was fine when the original released, but it's really not that impressive years later. Enemy placement is another point that I found way worse and unfun than I remembered.
Even still, it's impossible to deny the impact this game had on videogame history, and how many of its novel and interesting ideas were later polished and expanded on new From Software games (and other games as well). The game's atmosphere is truly unique, it's hidden lore and secrets are so interesting they gave birth to thousands of analysis videos over the years, some of the bosses are so amazing and memorable, combat is (although very sluggish) usually very satisfying when triumphing, the music and sound design are out of this world.
I seriously love the good parts of Dark Souls, I just don't think I can ignore the bad parts anymore, and I wonder why they were largely ignored by fans in the first place all those years ago. Objectively thinking, if it weren't for me already being familiarized with and having nostalgia for the game, I don't think I would have actually had much fun playing this time around, and I bet most fans wouldn't as well.