It demonstrates that by establishing a strong game world and excellent mechanics it can create a new relationship with the player. Most RPGs give the player an immense game world, an epic story, huge amounts of side content and some player agency in the sense of morality or choice. These mechanics are built into dialogue trees and into the NPC reactions to make the player feel more immersed and influential in the game world.
Dark souls strips out many of these things - there's still a large world, but excellent level design can make getting from place to place relatively quick.
There's almost no side content and no baked-in morality. Instead, players carry out their own morality by taking on the roles of watchful defenders, merciless avengers or opportunistic griefers. The game's currency of souls is offered in large quantities to anyone willing to take on these roles - and more souls lead to better equipment and abilities. There's no need for side quests, when players create their own by persecuting invaders to the Darkroot garden, or helping each other battle the screen filling bosses. And no preset game element or enemy AI can achieve the timing or surpass the thrill of actual other players interacting within these mechanics.
There's no epic story here either. More like an odyssey, Dark Souls is the single journey of the player trying to undo their own state of undeath. Its not about saving the world, just saving yourself. And this journey takes the player to some truly memorable moments and environments. There's an dark and oppressive underworld, a decayed and crumbling castle, a shining city and a suffocating tomb all awaiting the player.
Unlike any other game, Dark Souls empowers the player base to take the task of instructing each other on how to get through the world. The player learns about their world by reading notes left by their predecessors, watching the phantoms of the living or dead flit past briefly and by participating in each other's quest. Directly and indirectly one player passes on to the next knowledge about builds, secrets, paths, weaknesses and items and all participants are rewarded in the processes.
Weapons, spells, armor and abilities are all interlinked in an ingeniously deep system of character customization. Everything can build on or compensate for other elements so it is possible to develop thousands of viable end game characters which are then influenced by the preferences and gameplay style of the person actually holding the controller. There is no one best build, nor one best weapon.
In the end, Dark Souls is a game made for people who play games. It one of the most memorable, challenging, engaging and refreshing titles this or any generation, and is a must play for all gamers.
J
