So I've put up a few posts about Dark Souls, the game that is currently playing the role of my kinky dominatrix, punishing my transgressions as harshly as possible, only to have me come back begging for more. The reason should be obvious, and that's because I'm enjoying the bloody hell out of it, (note my choice of words, I'm definitely not enjoying "every minute.")
Dark Souls does something very few games do nowadays, and that is literally threaten you with punishment for bad play. In current gen-games, the general rule of thumb is, pay attention during the, "high action," moments where explosions are occuring, and the rest of the time feel free to keep one of your hands on your junk or in a bag of Doritos, because you're either: A going to be fine, or B going to die and restart 2 feet away. Dark Souls, much like it's predecessor Demons' Souls feels free to not only tell you not to pass go and not collect two hundred dollars, but also feels the need to take away your bank account and piss in your face.
Losing your hard earned souls, which comprise both your money and your experience is one thing, but getting slapped down by the game's equivalent of Halo's "grunts" on the way back to the bloody stain you left on the grass, that hurts. The game challenges you constantly, be it through it's unforgiving combat, pitfalls, traps, or even plain old intimidation.
I've run into countless enemies that I've looked at, and in my mind I've said "Gee, I've fought something bigger than him, I should be able to block his attacks pretty easy." You know how many times I've been wrong, or just plain old too bloody scared to test my theory? Probably every time. You either think you've sized up an enemy just right and you go in ready to rumble, only to get turned into that crimson coloured paste on the castle floor, or you run away like a little girl. This is something that the game successfully gets you to do, every single time you encounter a new enemy. Die, or be damned bloody afraid.
It might not be the kind of fear that makes you personally afraid, but when the hard earned souls, your time, sweat, and possibly blood are on the line, you just kind of understand it's like something you have to have experienced to know. On another note however, that same build-up of emotions and frustration only compounds the kind of crap that they throw at you in this game. Some of the creatures ARE frightening. It's like someone went all Inception into a nightmare and literally took snapshots of these bastards. More specifically the nightmares I haven't yet had. Seriously, I don't know if I'll be able to sleep.
Tension is already high enough going into what you can tell is a boss fight. But then the game does stuff like let you summon an NPC to help you, no questions asked.
"What?"
Then you walk into the room and see literally the most horrifying creature of nightmare you've ever seen. When you're scared that the knight with a sword is going to kill you, wait till you see some of what From Software is hiding in the shadows.
On another note, and I've mentioned this before, but "Wow," the feeling of reward and accomplishment you get when you finally figure out how to kill these creatures is like pure gamer crack, it's nearly tangible like you could reach out and touch it. It's why we all play. Every boss you beat is like the first time you made it through the Pillar of Autumn in Halo on Legendary. For every pain you suffer at the hands of the sinister game play, one absolutely amazing, jump off your seat, victory arm pump "YESSSSS" moment exists, that makes it all better, and reminds you why you just spent the last three hours grinding the ten minutes of trash on the way to the boss.
No comments:
Post a Comment