Dark Souls Prepare to Die Edition Revisited

The thunder roared mightily, I hadn't heard such a loud one in a long time. It was a rainy afternoon, a very gloomy afternoon in fact. The sky was dark grey, raindrops rolled down the window and the streets were damp. I have that habit of saving thickly atmospheric games like STALKER for rainy days like this. And so there I was, on my friend's desk, lost in the dreadful world of another favorite game of mine, Dark Souls.

That's what I particularly love about the original Dark Souls. The world of Lordran is bleak and dreadful from the get-go. Its sequel was completely different. It doesn't have that sense of dread and alone that Dark Souls offered. It gave you bright places of hope like Majula too soon. Dark Souls 2's fast-travel system that was immediately available from the first bonfire killed all the sense of helplessness that was the series' main strength. It killed the challenge of travelling along dangerous and uncharted places that gave the original game so much life.

Sacred crap!

Wait, didn't I say I didn't finish Dark Souls because of the PC port issues? Yes, it was partially because of that but heck, I managed to stand Brink's inconsistent frame rate for over 100 hours, so why not Dark Souls? Perhaps it was also because I was too lazy as hell trying the fix, which turned out to be just a 5-minute process. But I do not regret that I didn't play Dark Souls long enough. I knew I could always get back to it. The question was, would I be interested enough to do so?

After two years, apparently the answer is yes.

Now that I've played Dark Souls 2 and found the atmosphere and settings a bit disappointing due not being as dreadful as they should be, I am more eager to explore the original Dark Souls. I don't consider myself a Souls fan, and it's not like I'm that good anyway. I didn't even know what the hell was going on when I was playing Dark Souls 2. Heck, I survived probably because I was too stubborn to leave even after dying no less than 400 times. What really attracted me into the Souls universe was its realm. But my disappointment with Drangleic makes the world of Lordran seem more beautiful now. Lordran is full of great wonders and intimidating foes. Heck, I would fight that early boss Taurus Demon any day rather than the most epic boss dwelling in Drangleic.

Still one of the most frightening encounters I've had in a long time.

When I played Dark Souls two years ago, it made quite an impression. If not because of the port issue, I won't have abandoned it I suppose. It was the framerate that held me back but now that it's fixed, I'm going back to Lordran. That said, this time, unlike last time, I won't try going as far as I can. This time, I'll finish it.