My first experience of the Souls franchise was not a very pleasant one, I'm sure that is how most people say their first time was, but I wish it was like that, it was off-putting due to a coincidental negative perspective of the game on my first viewing... Allow me to explain.
A friend of mine was very much into Demons Souls when it first came out, I remember him being all excited and went on demonstrating the game on the PS3 at one of our weekly gatherings, I saw the gameplay and it did not attract me; it was mainly due to the fact that as soon as he started playing the game he got invaded by another player and died within seconds... Not really the best demonstration now is that? Especially considering how much I hate PvP in general, I was always more PvE focused when it comes to RPGs, so with that, I did not even give it a second glance..
Years pass, and Dark Souls comes out, the same friend is hyped yet again, trying to get other people hyped over it, I ask what game is that, and he mentions that it's an indirect sequel to demons souls.. Trying to remember what game that was, then I remembered the awful demonstration and again was not interested, not in the slightest..
Weeks pass and my friend is back and trying to get us all on board the Dark Souls hype train, he decided to give us a demonstration of the game by letting another friend play a section of the game. Now, I did not know which part of the game it was at the time but now I remember it very well, It was Sen's Fortress. So picture this- if you are already familiar with Dark Souls- imagine a newbie getting thrown into Sen's fun house (a trapped filled tight spaced hell of a castle level)..
Yes, you guessed it...The "You Died" screen got imprinted into the Plasma...
Not even an exaggeration here, this is basically ALL I remember from that god awful demonstration, and with some miracle, they even managed to get to the Iron Golem boss, well you can imagine how well that fight went. Another horrible viewing of another Souls game.
Years later, and it was around the time Dark Souls 2 was first announced, with a teaser coming out and people on social media losing their minds, I got a bit curious and started asking around. luckily there was a very convincing person -whom I just met at the time- that got me excited for the 1st time about any souls game, I still had that awful taste in my mouth from the first time I laid eyes on Dark Souls, but this guy was so passionate about Souls he somehow managed to convince me to get over my fears and try out the game myself, he even provided excellent beginner tips and gave me the best advice and the key to overcoming the challenge of Souls... Patience.
Such a simple advice, yet it IS the main thing you need to have when getting into these games, you need ALOT of patience, this is not the type of game that holds your hands, it is challenging, yet it is fair, the only reason you get defeated is because you have made a mistake, so you need to learn from them. This was the exact way we used to play games, the majority of NES games which we grew up playing were tough as nails, yet we had all the time in the world so we didn't care, whenever a game over screen came out you needed to play the game from the very beginning! But we pressed Start with a big smile and a heart full of determination, knowing exactly how and when we failed, and learning from that, just to progress a little further each time.
I am still to this day very grateful that I was pushed into this, to embark on a journey which was playing Dark Souls for the first time, it was an experience like no other, a journey into the depth of hell , the suffering, the agony, and the despair, and yet returning from that journey as a survivor, a conqueror, a human.
I spent months on that game and nothing else, I lived and breathed Dark souls, I was thinking about it when I wasn't playing, and that was something I haven't experienced in a long time, as games got stale over the years, to finally find a game that got me excited when talking or thinking about it; it was a great feeling to have back.
From the frustration of being constantly defeated by the Asylum Demon, to achieving Platinum on Bloodborne, I sure have come a long way, and now, with Dark Souls 3 in just days away, it's good to be back and feel that delicious pain once more, as my body started experiencing some withdrawal syndromes...
Souls, one hell of a drug...
A friend of mine was very much into Demons Souls when it first came out, I remember him being all excited and went on demonstrating the game on the PS3 at one of our weekly gatherings, I saw the gameplay and it did not attract me; it was mainly due to the fact that as soon as he started playing the game he got invaded by another player and died within seconds... Not really the best demonstration now is that? Especially considering how much I hate PvP in general, I was always more PvE focused when it comes to RPGs, so with that, I did not even give it a second glance..
Years pass, and Dark Souls comes out, the same friend is hyped yet again, trying to get other people hyped over it, I ask what game is that, and he mentions that it's an indirect sequel to demons souls.. Trying to remember what game that was, then I remembered the awful demonstration and again was not interested, not in the slightest..
Weeks pass and my friend is back and trying to get us all on board the Dark Souls hype train, he decided to give us a demonstration of the game by letting another friend play a section of the game. Now, I did not know which part of the game it was at the time but now I remember it very well, It was Sen's Fortress. So picture this- if you are already familiar with Dark Souls- imagine a newbie getting thrown into Sen's fun house (a trapped filled tight spaced hell of a castle level)..
Yes, you guessed it...The "You Died" screen got imprinted into the Plasma...
Not even an exaggeration here, this is basically ALL I remember from that god awful demonstration, and with some miracle, they even managed to get to the Iron Golem boss, well you can imagine how well that fight went. Another horrible viewing of another Souls game.
Years later, and it was around the time Dark Souls 2 was first announced, with a teaser coming out and people on social media losing their minds, I got a bit curious and started asking around. luckily there was a very convincing person -whom I just met at the time- that got me excited for the 1st time about any souls game, I still had that awful taste in my mouth from the first time I laid eyes on Dark Souls, but this guy was so passionate about Souls he somehow managed to convince me to get over my fears and try out the game myself, he even provided excellent beginner tips and gave me the best advice and the key to overcoming the challenge of Souls... Patience.
Such a simple advice, yet it IS the main thing you need to have when getting into these games, you need ALOT of patience, this is not the type of game that holds your hands, it is challenging, yet it is fair, the only reason you get defeated is because you have made a mistake, so you need to learn from them. This was the exact way we used to play games, the majority of NES games which we grew up playing were tough as nails, yet we had all the time in the world so we didn't care, whenever a game over screen came out you needed to play the game from the very beginning! But we pressed Start with a big smile and a heart full of determination, knowing exactly how and when we failed, and learning from that, just to progress a little further each time.
I am still to this day very grateful that I was pushed into this, to embark on a journey which was playing Dark Souls for the first time, it was an experience like no other, a journey into the depth of hell , the suffering, the agony, and the despair, and yet returning from that journey as a survivor, a conqueror, a human.
I spent months on that game and nothing else, I lived and breathed Dark souls, I was thinking about it when I wasn't playing, and that was something I haven't experienced in a long time, as games got stale over the years, to finally find a game that got me excited when talking or thinking about it; it was a great feeling to have back.
From the frustration of being constantly defeated by the Asylum Demon, to achieving Platinum on Bloodborne, I sure have come a long way, and now, with Dark Souls 3 in just days away, it's good to be back and feel that delicious pain once more, as my body started experiencing some withdrawal syndromes...
Souls, one hell of a drug...
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