The Discussion Thread: The Greatest Games Event 2017 - FINISH YOUR LISTS

[Mnementh]

The_Liquid_Laser said:

#12 Dark Souls

Why did it make the list?
Because it takes the gameplay of old school D&D and puts it into visually beautiful, modern 3D package.  When I talk about old school D&D, what I mean is that the game is at it’s best when you are in a deadly dungeon, but you are able to overcome the monsters, traps and other dangers if you are smart about it.  This is Dark Souls in a nutshell.  Yes, the game is very much trying to kill you in every encounter, but if you think and keep your wits about it, then you can also get through unscathed.

It may even be more accurate to say that Dark Souls is a modern take on what a roguelike is, because Dark Souls also lets you choose what kind of character you want to play through this game of death.  Do you want to be a slow tank, a fast and nimble melee fighter, an archer, a wizard, or some kind of hybrid between these types.  You choose how you want to play the game.  That is why Dark Souls is brilliant.  Yes, it is always trying to kill you, but it is also not afraid to give you plenty of tools and opportunities to overcome the game’s many challenges.

Original experience:
When I think of my original experience with this series, I am more apt to go back to Demon’s Souls, which is the first game like this that I played.  It was a really amazing game for me at the time.  I kind of felt that the teeth had been taken out of modern gaming, and I was glad to find a new game that was willing to put the teeth back in.

However after I played Dark Souls, I went back and tried Demon’s Souls and I realized it is kind of a bland game by comparison.  Dark Souls just has far more interesting environments and a lot more variety than Demon’s Souls had.  With Dark Souls they took a very good game and just made it so much better in every way. 

How does it hold up today?
It still holds up great.  However, it has been a few years since I’ve played it, so this may be a good excuse for me to go back and be sure. 😉

I have to pick up this game at some point, given how much I like Demon's Souls. I currently wait if From Software announces anything for Switch, this would be my primary platform for it.

And if Dark Souls is like Demon's Souls, then the description as a roguelike has a lot going for it, although the randomly genereated levels and the permadeath are missing. But exploring the dungeon with traps and monsters, this is the roguelike-experience.