I can’t say anything about the original, but for a remaster BluePoint did a pretty good job making the game feel fresh and pretty, including adding QoL features like new shortcuts. It was really interesting playing this after Elden Ring and the first 2 Dark Souls, and seeing what the series began with. This game was incredibly fun, and no level ever felt tedious or janky. It was weird playing through a hub world (with a level select) but I got used to it pretty quickly, and for the most part didn’t mind it at all. My only issue with the game was how easy all of the bosses were, but it’s understandable seeing as though this game did start the “souls” genre. I normally play as a strength build, but the game was basically easy mode playing with an intelligence/magic build. It’s worth experiencing this game at least once if you’re interested in FromSoft games, and especially if you haven’t played any of them yet seeing as it’s not too difficult.

This game is a little hard to judge as it has both its ups and downs, and you can tell the team at FromSoft wanted to try something a little bit different from the first Dark Souls. There was definitely a lot more jank than the first game, but there were enjoyable moments too. However, since I played the first one right before I started this, I couldn’t help but compare the two, making me rate this one lower. I beat every boss in the game, and plan on going into NG+ and NG++ to get the few achievements I’m missing, but I would say that between the first two Dark Souls games there is a definite difficulty spike, and this one requires you to seriously get good.