Summary
I adoreDark Soulsand all of its spiritual successors. I made some incredible friends getting carried through the game, finally learned patience after trying to fight NG+2 Duke’s Dear Freja withbonfire ascetics, and even got a tattoo of the Darksign on my arm to mark me as a lowly hollow for the rest of my life. Oddly, though, I got into this series by complete accident, and trust me, there’s no worse introduction to Dark Souls.
In 2014, little 13-year-old James was watching a YouTube let’s play ofDarksiders 2. I don’t remember who made it, but I do remember turning it off because I was thinking, ‘I don’t want to spoil that for myself, it looks fun.’ I planned to save up and grab it on Steam instead, but when I had the money a couple of weeks later, I messed up and bought Dark Souls 2.
It sounds silly, but hear me out. Dark Souls and Darksiders are very similar names, using not only the same abbreviation but the same font for their logos. The actual moment to moment gameplay is vastly different, sure, but both are set in dark fantasy worlds where you crawl through filthy dungeons. I hope I’m not the only one who made this mixup, because either it’s an easy mistake to make or I’m a total idiot. I’d rather it be the former.
While it’s not as dear to my heart as Dark Souls, IloveDarksiders and have played the first two games to death now. But it took me a while to find my way back to its shores.
Dark Souls 2 was one hell of a wakeup call. I wasbadat video games and never realised it. I had conqueredSkyrim, survived the wilderness ofBaldur’s Gate, and sacrificed way too many townsfolk inFable 2to become a fearsome demon. But here? A little scraggly footsoldier with naught but a rusted pole made me feelmiserable.
After noticing that others on my friends list had this strange, obtuse, horribly difficult game that I couldn’t grasp whyanyonewould play, I frantically DM’d them asking where the hell I’m supposed to go. I was quickly directed to the Forest of Fallen Giants (not the Tower of Flame that I had run into before quickly declaring ‘NOPE’). But I couldn’t get anywhere near the second bonfire. The Heide Knights humbled me so hard I quit the game, uninstalled it, and vowed never to go back.
It wouldn’t be until a friend asked if I had Dark Souls 2 that I begrudgingly got back into the game, painstakingly carried through 200 hours across several playthroughs as I desperately tried to get better. But as bad as I was, something clicked after reaching that second bonfire and I realised that even in the face of such adversity—in fact,becauseof it—this was something special.
I would eventually go back to the first Dark Souls and even buy a PS3 just forDemon’s Souls. I was obsessed, pouring hundreds of hours into every game FromSoftware released. Darksiders totally slipped my mind, and it wouldn’t be until I was 18 that I finally went back and played the game that caught my attention in the first place, realising that my unfortunate little mistake all those years ago had dwarfed this amazing hack and slash that walked right on by.
The moral of the story? If you’re gonna have game names that similar, choose a different font. Please.
Dark Souls 2
WHERE TO PLAY
Dark Souls 2 follows the player character, an Undead human cursed to become a Hollow, as they attempt to reverse this impending doom. Like previous FromSoftware titles, it thrives on its difficulty and gothic fantasy world.
