Dark Souls (Series)
I feel like I’ve touched on my undying love for this unforgiving series enough times for most of you to know I’m a fan. What you might not know is how long it took me to consider myself one. Eight hours into Demon’s Souls and I hated it with a burning, white-hot passion. Unfortunately, I had to review the game, so stuck with it and even eventually grew to enjoy it. But it took a considerable amount of time to reach that point.
When Dark Souls came around, I had an idea of what to expect from the series and I had even learned how to enjoy my time with it. This is a series that can inspire a wide range of feelings, from frustration to gratification, happiness to anger — it’s a roller coaster ride of emotions, each short-lived, lasting about as long as my character usually does before that emotion is replaced by something new. That is, except for a single feeling that is sure to never, ever abandon you.
Fear.
Fear is the one emotion that’s always present. It might not be right there on display, front and center, but if it isn’t, it’ll be in your periphery. You may feel unstoppable one minute, but you’ll always have the thought of that singular enemy that lurks somewhere just out of your field of view who’s sole purpose it is to remind you to always be fearful.
Dark Souls is one of the scariest games I’ve ever played, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
