Hey, Gamers! So this past week or so, I’ve been playing Dark Souls. This post is going to be about my experience so far. I’ve just beaten the Taurus Demon so I’m still pretty early in game.
So immediately I refused to play the game without Josh (my partner who spends a lot of time playing SoulsBorne) telling me where to go. This was a huge red flag for me as I was going back into my ‘I’m no good at gaming I always need help’ mindset which… isn’t good, for pretty obvious reasons. He sat there and directed me when I went wrong. Nothing huge… apart from it was all the time because I kept going the wrong way. After I defeated the Asylum Demon and got to Firelink Shrine, he left to go downstairs for a little bit… and I nearly got to the Taurus Demon by myself. Okay, so I went the wrong way and got mad because I lost over 2000 souls… but I nearly did it by myself which was a huge confidence boost for me.
Another massive issue that I’ve been having is pressing Square instead of the triggers (R1 and R2) to attack. The two games that I’m playing right now (Yakuza and Persona 5 Strikers) both use square to attack, but in Dark Souls the square button is actually the button you use to heal with an Estus Flask… which are in limited supply at 5 when you start the game. So I was chugging one of those whenever I went to attack, which was not very useful at all. I actually still do this by accident sometimes, but I’d say it mainly stopped when I got to Undead Burg and did a bunch of fighting there.
Another issue I have had is one that I’ve had with most games, and that’s locking on to enemies. I used the Rapier as soon as I got it, and after doing Undead Burg a few times, I managed to go down the stairs (after rolling into some boxes) to buy a Estoc from the dodgy sales guy after farming some souls. So, basically I am using a thrusting weapon, which means that I have to lock on to enemies to actually hit them properly. I’d say that I’ve improved at this, especially in places that I’ve done quite a bit (like Undead Burg).
So overall, playing Dark Souls has been a much more positive experience for me than playing Bloodborne was. It’s a lot slower, and I feel like it’s more forgiving and gives you more time to adjust to the controls. Although I’m not as interested in the lore side of things compared to Bloodborne, it is still very interesting. I think I’ve said this here but I say it a lot in real life: I wouldn’t have been able to play Persona 5 Strikers if I had not played Yakuza 0 beforehand. I think it’s going to be a similar situation with SoulsBorne games. I need to play Dark Souls before I play Bloodborne. And I hope that I finish it, I really do.
I’m not looking forward to two boss fights: Quelagg and Sif. I am absolutely terrified of spiders, even little ones, so I’m not too looking forward to having to fight a massive one. At least Rom didn’t look too much like a spider. Like, I knew I could have handled Rom phobia wise. As for Sif, I’ve been told (by Josh) that no one likes that fight. He’s just a good dog that wanted to be extra good. If there’s a point that will make me stop playing Dark Souls, it might be Sif. I love dogs so much.
So, that’s it for today’s post, Gamers! Don’t forget to leave your thoughts and feelings in the comments, like this post if you liked it, follow my social media accounts to keep updated and if you’re looking for a chill stream to watch on Twitch, Josh and I stream almost every day over at 2nerds_1game. See you next time!
Eleanor Rees Gaming 