[Review] Dark Souls: Remastered - Prepare to Patience

Written by: Jersie August 29, 2019

Is it really that hard?

My sweaty hands clutch my controller, and my glazed over eyes light up. The credits are rolling. I've done it, I've beaten Dark Souls!

After celebrating my victory, I get a discord notification from The Crazy Lunatic,

my local Dark Souls aficionado.

"Have you beaten Artorias?"

HUH? Artori-WHO? The dude who was mentioned every now and there in item descriptions or something? I dunno, I didn't see 'im.

Oh yeah, I forgot the Remastered has the DLC bundled in, and I completely missed it, so...no, I haven't completed Dark Souls, NG+ is next, and...I'll do it later.

While Dark Souls was plenty fun, the 50 hours it sucked from my life warrants a small break for me to give attention to my other backlog games.

But anyway, the real question is,

IS DARK SOULS HARD?

(ahem and is it good?)

Well, Yes, and No. It depends, for both questions.

So, the story of Dark Souls is fed to you in bits and scraps in the form of item descriptions, character dialogue, and what you experience in the world around you. You may have to google some things you've missed if you're hungry for more, this way of subtle story-telling is very refreshing, and I give it a big 👍

Characters aswell, are dubious. With perma-death for NPCs, it gives a moral branch-out for the game. Keep this merchant NPC that sells you resources that you can mostly grind yourself? Or kill them for some easy humanity and gear?

For my first run, I preferred to keep the bloodshed to a minimum. Only killing when necessary or when I clicked out of Dark Souls, clicked back in, was in front of an NPC and accidentally slashed them, yeah don't do that.

The gameplay, is simple, yet awesome.

Roll, Slice, Roll, Slice, Drink Estus

Or if you go a mage route,

Roll, Cast, Roll, Cast, Drink Estus

The variety with all the stats and equipment allows for a lot of depth and replayability.

I am not the biggest fan of turn based combat, especially ones that don't have much tactical aspects to it. So gameplay that allows so and so progression based primarily on raw skill is great for me.

Bosses are MUCH easier with a NPC helper or online buddy

Like the title suggests, this game isn't agonizing as long as your careful, and learn from your mistakes. (But some things are pretty obtuse, and there is no shame in checking the wiki for that) Playing online also helps a lot as there are hints on the ground made by other players (they might not always be true though) you also may get invaded when you are in human form. Since you will likely go through the areas many times (from dying) it makes so much of the game is iconic. Nothing more satisfying when you find a new shortcut.

The bosses also, I admire that Dark Souls can actually instill fear in me when I fought a new boss. (Except for you Moonlight Butterfly)

The platforming sometimes though? It is its own thing honestly... 😂

The soundtrack is SO good

The music accompanies the atmosphere incredibly. The graphics to me are great, but for being a "Remastered" version, I have heard from others it isn't much of a step up from the original.

Overall, even though the experience was pretty good, the full $40 is steep when you compare that it is pretty much just a slight graphical upgrade combined with the original and DSFix, a community mod that fixed the original's problems.

I recommend for everyone to try gettin gud. There are many resources that make the game easier if you don't have that much time. And most areas aren't too problematic, even the infamous Blighttown. (But I have my own grudge against Tomb of Giants)

Wish me luck when I get to the DLC~

GAME RATING: 8.8

Pros-

• Fascinating lore

• Iconic World/Characters/Bosses

• Simple, yet in-depth challenging gameplay

• Great Soundtrack

• Replay Value with NG+

Cons-

• Can be too challenging, especially without help

• Difficult sometimes to figure out what you are supposed to do

• Expensive compared to the little it brings from the original

• Without prior knowledge, you can also easily mess up the game

Rating specifics-

Story - 8/10

Characters/World - 8/10

Gameplay - 9/10

Graphics - 9/10

Sound - 9/10

Optimization and bugs - 9/10

Memorability - 10/10

Replay value - 10/10

Enjoyment - 8/10

Jersie

Always acquiring new games, backlog brawling has  been a constant struggle. But this cat-loving, (almost) any game playing girl always gets back on her feet. Armed with her lemon water, 3rd party Xbox controller, and desktop punching bag, this teenage girl will make sure to utterly destroy her foes with thorough reviews!