Why We Love Dark Souls 1
2024 ж. 22 Мам.
111 414 Рет қаралды
I'm tired of people calling this one overrated lately. It's a banger, and here's why.
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
01:11 Dark Souls doesn't care about you
04:41 World Design
10:50 A true RPG
14:51 Nailing the themes
18:45 Missed potential
22:29 Outro
3 things: 1. (2:28) I know there are reasons to go to the catacombs early 2. I’m aware that Gwyn isn’t supposed to be a “grandiose” fight, I used the wrong word to just say that it’s cool. 3. While I do think the DLC is when they started making lots of legendary boss fights, I did forget about Allant in DeS, so I guess it was wrong to say they “cracked the code” here when they’ve done it before.
@@justforfunnn1616 Ya I know it’s been a bit, I just really didn’t want to mess this one up.
4:25 Don't forget that you say getting cursed is the only way you can get punished after death. Every single bloodstain containing 293578239857 souls and 99 humanity that was lost because some idiot decided to run through the enemies rather than be patient and just do what they did last time disagrees. Absolutely wonderful video though, just minor nitpicks throughout that sour it a bit. Sekiro enemy ranking is still my favourite.
@@chadofastora don't worry your videos are always great for me an I like your rankings
@roccogough254 if you have that many souls and humanity, you're your own worst enemy, dummy. edit: and you honestly deserve the loss. glhfkthxnore
Here is one of the best reasons why: dark souls 1 has the best poise mechanic.
The general feel of ds1 is just magical. The combination of level design, difficulty, roadblocks, design of menus and ui, lack of fast travel, everyone's unique paths through the game, give it atmosphere unlike any other. That feeling is lost at around anor londo and later, but the first half alone is the coolest gaming experience i ever had, and even if mechanically a game like bloodborne is way better, that magic of ds1 was never captured again
Well said
Ds1 was my 1st souls game and my favorite so far Bloodborne is my 2nd favorite and ds2 is last but enjoyable as well I got the dark soul achievement on ds1 and might try for the equivalent in Bloodborne
@@Bladerunner5146bloodborne was my first and easily my favorite i recently played ds2 and honestly i think it’s more enjoyable and there’s more content than ds1 so i like it better
@@ryanharvey1610 True that ds1 loses to other games in core mechanics, content, build variety etc. Objective and easily definable criteria. Can't argue against objective facts, but subjective less clear feelings like the atmosphere, just the mood, carry it to be one of the better games in the franchise
@@NoirKirbithat's not an objective fact
Certified Soulsborne Classic
Soulsborne Ring, Dies Twice
It's my second favorite, after bloodborne
I have a lot more respect for this game than the other souls games. Mainly because of the whole "Don't go hollow" thing. I think it's a good analogy for giving in. Don't lose yourself. Keep pushing on.
You have more respect for a game cause it has an analogy "don't go hollow" lmao tell me your first souls game was elden ring without telling me 😂😂😂😂😂. What about ds2 "dont give up skeleton"? Sounds like the same thing different wording. But, you just wanted something to say like every other tryhard
@@ramrodbldm9876 the other souls games weren't as motivational to me when I was playing them
@@ramrodbldm9876dont go too far because for only 1 day is dark souls here because the next will be the dlc. always love and forgive not hate and forget.
@ramrodbldm9876 Why you gotta come here and start arguments bruh
@@ramrodbldm9876what's got your panties in a twist bruh
The maze like design of the world is what makes it stand out the most even if people don't realize it. Nothing wrong with linear design but there is something amazing about having multiple paths to go down and not being outright told what awaits you where. Even Elden Ring failed at this because everything is so open and actually predictable.
If there's anything from Elden Ring to compare to I would say that it's like Lordran is a giant legacy dungeon
There’s definitely Souls design in ER. Most of the legacy dungeons have the same clever looping factor, and it’s even applied to the open world in a few cases. ER’s biggest issue besides some balancing issues and repeated content that’s inherent with open world design anyways is that it’s a culmination of the past six games and a lot of people didn’t have the patience for it, or felt overwhelmed by its larger scale.
@@hanselthecaretakerfor me it was open world game fatigue. After Skyrim, Witcher 3, AC series, and BOTW I was pretty much over it and sought out the souls series (but especially DS1) to break up the monotony
I feel the only other From Software game that got close was Bloodborne
@@randychristensen1028this.
This game gives me so much nostalgia, almost cried hearing that plin plin plon. To this day, I still think its the best for newcomers
I love ds1 it was the best and my first souls game, I’m now replaying it again for like 50th time it never seems to get old or boring
A true work of art, and my favourite game of all time.
Me too. I've played a bunch of games since then, but I'm a little sad because I'm pretty sure no game will ever give me that same experience again. It was magic in a bottle. I haven't replayed another From game, for instance. I didn't even finish DS2 or Sekiro, and I did easy mode on DS3 and Elden Ring just to get through them. Bloodborne was super-cool, though, but I didn't replay that either, although now I'm tempted to.
1989h ..... didnt even played CSGO as much as this Game xD
Yeah the map design of lordran is just stellar (excluding chaos). I have a horrible sense of orientation, i can barely go somewhere in my hometown without pulling out google maps, but somehow i know lordran like the back of my hands after traveling through it for so long, to the point that if someone told me any two points on the map (excluding things that require warping like getting out of the abyss or nito's cave) i could probably give them a detailed description of the route they need to take to get from one to the other, including enemies and objects nearby.
I played the game dozens of times, and I still found myself wondering how to get to where I needed to go (before warping), or what I needed to do next. That was always really strange for me, because I felt I knew the game inside and out. But I also kind of liked that about the game, how it retained mystery even after my familiarity with it.
I remember going through the great hollow as I thought that was where I needed to go next. Then I found Ash Lake and was take aback by its beauty. Then I ruined it by resting at the bonfire…
yeh thats a masterpiece for you....
time to do some monkey shenanigans
Then 5 years later you find out that there's a long ladder in the great hollow that takes you easily back to the top.
@@CaptainTitforce still never knew that
@@WhoDaF0ok1sThatGuy damn dude 💀
My favorite game in the entire soulsbornewhatever series. I have replayed it like 100 times and know almost everything about it other than some questlines.
Still the best one.
@@asdfghjkllkjhgfdsa8725bloodborne and sekiro are better
@@kozukitonio740 I disagree. Even though I'm not mad at you for choosing them, they are my #2 and 3.
@@kozukitonio740 thank you miyamoto musashi for this insightful comment. it will surely change their mind
I don't know why people try to categorize them as soulsborne. It's stupid, it's not a genre. It's making a new name for something that already exists. The term is typically roguelike, but that isn't a genre either. They're just fromsoft rpg's. They've made them like this even before souls so.
One thing I think is really cool about Dark Souls and Elden Ring is that it truly feels like a world that exist whether you are there are not. There are countless places where you have to make some creative jumps to get to the place you need which is not obvious (like Anor Londo). You feel like you are exploring places that were built for others, doors shut or caved in and when you find the correct path it feels nice. A good example of this is Lennas rise in elden ring. So the rise buildings typically has some sort of riddle to enter but not this one. This one is completely sealed with no way of opening it. The stone statue is also broken so whatever riddle you had so solve is gone. In order to enter you need to jump on the roof and get in through the balcony. This way such a cool moment since at that point I realized that parts of the world is in decay. It's like a real world ruin with secrets that you have to search for. Also I went to both the graveyard and new londo the first time playing DS1. I was there for way to long, almost quit before I found the stairway up to undead burg. But it taught me an invaluable lesson. Just because an area exists it doesn't mean that I should go there. If it is way harder than what I would expect based on my characters level it is probably the wrong area. Without that lesson I would have probably spent hours trying to get past valley of the drakes at a low level, or getting to the sea monster, going to the graveyard early after I finally revenged the skeletons outside.
I got the game a few months ago and I'm still replaying it constantly. It's just so fun finally seeing yourself improving :)
Have you learned how to co-op or invade yet? That's the next level. What I really loved doing was upgrading my pyro, getting a fully upgraded Chaos weapon, and either being a Darkwraith or a Gravelord Servant. So many fun things to do after the main game is over. I'm happy to see that people are still enjoying this amazing game.
the reasons why I love Dark souls 1 so much. Takes me back to the days when I was completely alone in Arizona, going through a struggle after another, in a foreign area for me. Just to get some groceries, and pay bills, I had to sell all my games, and psp. As well as other things I had, manage to get the game for cheap. And that game was all I had as an escape. And the struggles of the game and playing it blind kinda resonated with my actual life. It was challenging and rewarding, just like when I was in my actual life struggles, it was challenging but rewarding when I got my car fixed, furniture, better job, and was able to get more food, etc. playing this during my downtime just somehow resonated with me like I said, for all that this game will always be special to me. Still currently playing as we speak.
For me, it's the more grounded tone and methodical gameplay. I really don't like how every fight in more recent games is now an anime tier spectacle where everyone is flipping around the arena shooting lasers at one another.
LOL. Funny way to put it. I don't disagree with you.
Because for most people, it’s just more entertaining than two dudes behind shields waiting for the other to do something
The boss designs in the newer games are undeniably better mechanically. But i understand missing the grounded approach, there's a huge difference between Maliketh and Sif or O & S and Malenia lol. Maybe the new Lords of the Fallen will scratch that itch for you.
Pre Anor Londo in dark souls 1 is my best gaming experience till date. You don't know anything about the world there is no fast travel so you actually feels lost in the game and revisit areas even though you don't need to. You truly feel lost and immersed in the world which was only possible because of that crazy level designing. The way areas got connected to each other was so cool to experience playing first time.
I love all From Soft Dark Souls games, Bloodborne, Sekiro, and Elden Ring so much. They all affected me differently throughtout the last four years of my life.
Literally agree on all fronts. This game just hits different, good video :)
Ahhhh, a fellow Queelag's Furysword enjoyer ;) I will always enjoy going back to DS1, the overall atmosphere is unmatched.
It just looks so cool while also being practical, it’s hard to pass
7:21 "One of the best aspects, that brings this game's world design to life is a design choice none of the other games have." = Amazing chest chilling in the background.
Dark Souls 1 is that game that I always replay every now and then.
Solaire goes crazy because of the sunlight maggot he finds. He doesn't go Hollow. He's completed his goal of finding his own Sun and being as grossly incandescent as it, but he still has a purpose. Defending his own sun. He goes crazy and attacks you because he can't recognize you and thinks you want to steal his sun. Also, I'm fairly sure that the NPCs that Hollow don't speak as much as Solaire does in Izalith. They don't speak at all, actually. Yes, Solaire mostly just moans and groans, but he is still human. You can also tell by his skin. Same for Logan. He isn't Hollow, just mad with power, knowledge and intellect. It's a common misconception that some characters goes Hollow when they actually go insane. Still, great vid, pretty interesting and I do agree with a lot of points made. The level/world design is great, though sometimes inaccurate or odd.
Fair point, I definitely oversimplified
@@chadofastoranah , he does go hollow. He goes hollow because he no longer has a goal. Source: the player can also wear the sunlight maggot without going crazy
@@chadofastorawhat I love about this is that the pvp is all the more fun when you role play becoming the power crazy protagonist invading peoples worlds and and playing along with the covenants, which I think DS1 does the best out of the three. That’s something I feel like was missed and could be talked about in another video.
Solaire secret ending
@@mynameisearl9283 Totally agree. The co-op and PvP in the game take it to greater levels than just the PvE experience. Most people just play the basic game, and if so, they're missing at least 50% of the full experience.
I keep returning to Dark Souls over and over again. It's one of the few games that i consider timeless masterpieces.
ON first playtrough i became one of the hollows scratching walls on the way to bell gargoyles. Its really intresting that you got so many mad hollows with broken straight swords over there its like the devolopers knew many ppl would quit at this point
What's always been funny to me is that they made the Crestfallen Warrior super-strong right there in Firelink. Anyone who attacks him at the beginning - and there's a temptation to do so - will probably quit the game, because he's permanently aggro until after the first bell, and even that's mysterious how to de-aggro NPCs. An amazing and daring design choice.
@@psterud funny thing is i killed that bastard :D i did spend an entire day trying to
I got to experience this game in its entirety completely blind because I didn’t have internet when I was playing it and on top of that I had never even heard of it, I grew up poor and the game was only $1 because it was loose and the store didn’t know if it worked but thank goodness I got it cuz it sparked my love for the series
Just completed my first playthrough of this game a week ago. First souls game I ever played. Had the game for a long time but never knew what to do at the start lol. All your points about world design and the wonder of discovering the world is spot on with what I felt. Very much a masterpiece of a game.
I remember trying to replay Dark Souls some years ago and I wanted to try the Dark ending. Overall despite some aspects being much the same as the previous play I remember taking alternative routes and trying a new build. It was exciting going a bit deeper into the land of Lordran, playing out events in different order. I managed to get pretty far and had fun rising to the old challenges. The funny thing is I tried the same thing with Dark Souls 3 and I didn't enjoy it as much as I did with Dark Souls 1. Even though I love Dark Souls 3 replaying that game was iffy especially if you try the Dark ending. I was also reminded of the things I hated about DS3 which wasn't anywhere near the negatives of DS1. I go far as to say that Dark Souls and Bloodborne have so much replayability at least for me. (I still have yet to play Sekiro and Demon's souls) I think a lot of us who are into the Soulsborne games can agree that Dark Souls is the definitive title.
love your video so far. Dark Souls was such a difficult experience for me and it took about 3-4 years of on and off play to beat it. At one point I finally 'got it'. I was like you and missed the lower undead burg. I got cursed and was at half health for an incredible amount of time due to not looking anything up. With half HP I found the secret Ash Lake and painfully made it to the end of the beach, only to find a dragon and nothing to cure me. I then had to travel all the way back to the surface and many hours later you can imagine my relief when I finally found the guy in the ghost castle who sold me an item to get rid of my curse. It was such a slog, but it was an adventure. I went on and did the same thing you did, traveling down into the tomb of the giants without a light and having to return all the way back to the surface. Once I finally found my footing I was able to beat the game. I think having no fast travel and an interconnected world made this game so special to me.
If you didn’t play DS1 when it was the current/latest souls game you will never know the true DS1 experience and how good it was.
This is a great way to put it. When there were still a ton of players on it, and co-op and PvP were still going strong, it was a total blast. None of the later games could hold a candle to that original experience. That fear of getting human and maybe getting invaded while trying to get your souls back, or that giddy thrill of being an invader. Pure gold!
@@psterud Facts! Ds1 was truly special back then.
@@Airis96 I wish I could go back. One thing I hated about the remaster was how invasions became generalized. You didn't know where you'd spawn. My favorite place to invade was from the ledge outside of Solaire's bonfire in Anor Londo. You'd spawn down where the archers began to shoot. So much fun. Insult to injury. But the remaster made it so you didn't know where you'd spawn. BOOO!
@@psterud The remaster is a disgrace. The lighting and look of the game looks plasticy and shitty, they got rid of dead angles, introduced weird ankle glitch when rolling and killed the og versions online player base and basically just killed the game as a whole. Disgusting.
@@Airis96 Agree. I like you. :) I will say, though, that at the very least the remaster brought a bunch more people to the game. But they will never know the real experience from back in the day. And all these people telling us we're just being nostalgic will also never know what it was like. It was pure magic, and it will never happen again.
DS1 is the greatest fantasy-genre game of all time, and probably will not ever be topped. Sure, the mechanics have been improved upon, but it was truly ahead of its time in every way, and no game has revolutionized videogames as a whole quite like this one has
I played ds1 few months before elden ring released and that was when i fell in love with these games. Even when others souls games are great they still don't feel the same as ds1. It feels like that i find out new things even tho i have played it through like 5 times already and i love the freedom how you can explore the world.
Trust me, even after 3000 hours playing, and hundreds of hours of KZhead videos, there's still stuff to learn about DS1. It's truly astounding.
The problem in blighttown isnt gravity. It's the framerate. People should also remember that DS didnt have nearly the budget that Elden Ring had. And the reason ER did have the budget it had was the revenue DS created.
Hey, same here; I found out about the Lower Undead Burg/Depths some time after I had at least three lord souls. I'm sure had I been using a standard weapon, I'd have figured it out sooner, but I was using mostly a Catch Pole, a Black Knight Sword and a fire Zwei by Anor Londo, followed by the Crystal Halberd you get in Anor Londo until the end of the game, so I never bothered once even upgrading at Andre past Sen's Fortress. I was pretty much the only one of my friends who actually knew about the cave in Darkroot Basin, because a lot of them for years afterwards seemed to work into their memory that you NEEDED the master key to reach Blighttown's entrance from there and I always had to explain that was wrong. I started as a thief but never found the New Londo lift until NG+, though I'm sure many people who started as a thief or picked the master key got there that way. Consequently, I skipped the Blighttown frustration forever. I remember thinking people were disproportionately complaining about an area that I got through with relative easy only to find out much later that it was because I had stumbled upon the less bullshit entry to the place. I did go through the Depths entrance on a new character, but at that point I knew what I might be in store for and how to handle it. I can never experience that frustration. This is why every From Soft game now is streamlined with a mandatory poison swamp, so everyone has to experience it. Seriously though, it is one of the neater aspects of DaS that the other games in the series simply do not share enough.
Really enjoyed your video bro! I started my FromSoft journey with ER and am now currently playing through DS1 & Demon’s Souls remake. The exploration is what made me fall in love with ER and I’m really enjoying it in DS1! Getting my ass handed to me lol, but I’ve stumbled across some insane stuff already, just a few hours in. FromSoft has ruined me, I don’t think I’ll be able to play another genre again🤣
You are absolutely right about all of it. I got started with souls a week after the launch of DS1. When I got invaded in the parish, i wanted to be that guy. So i learned how to become a darkwraith and the rest is history. This is why i am the invader video guy i am now. But, more importantly.... The PVE aspect of DS1 is unmatched. There is no other game in the series (except maybe bloodborne) that even came close to giving me the same feeling. DS1 is built different. All the new fans can't understand.
Ahhh Ashe Lake, I was in awe when I first set foot in that beach... The music...
6:00 I did the same thing my first play through, except I gave up going through the catacombs, and ended up back tracking, through the undead berg, and discovering the depths. Also, I had the master key and could have skipped all of Blight-Town, but I ended up going the long way, not realizing that I missed an easy shortcut.
As you mentioned there is many essays about DS1 but i really like to watch them. This game gives people different experience so every video is unique.
It is so crazy that my first playthrough mirrored yours, exactly the same except for the fact that i wasn't good enough to actually go up so i started grinding on the tomb until i had a high enough SL to confidently go up
4:15 I actually read this is even post-patch. As in, before this, curse used to build up pretty much instantly. That's crazy. I'm gonna have to test this one day on an unpatched version of DS1.
DS1 was the first From game I beat, 10 years ago, and I'm so glad it was. They really distilled and perfected the formula in later games, but in doing so, they unavoidably lost a little bit of what made it special in the first place.
I feel similarly. They called DS1 a "flawed masterpiece," but by attempting to fix the flaws, they lost the masterpiece. DS2, which is not a bad game, was an attempt to further the franchise. DS3 was an attempt to repair the Dark Souls reputation while appeasing the rabid fans of DS1. Fortunately for the company, DS3 is where most players enter those games. Bloodborne and Sekiro are their own things, and are great for what they are. Elden Ring is, in my opinion, just an extension of the DS3 mentality. All fun games, to be sure, but the original magic is simply not there, and can't be reacquired, by anyone. Times have changed.
@psterud nothing can replicate ds1 and even with all the jankiness I still come back to it
@@psterud Unfortunately the game's design is just something that a company can't make anymore. Fromsoft may generally be an exception to all other triple A games, but they are still a company that would still rather maximize profits and attract customers than try to perfect the magic of ds1 now
I decided to give elden ring a try last year, since I had nothing to play on my ps5, and it was my 1st experience with fromsoftware games. I loved it, got the platinum, and decided to make my way back to see what all the fuzz was all about. Played Bloodborne, Demons Souls, and when I got to Dark Souls I've had experience with both the fast paced combat oriented gameplay with Bloodborne, and the slow paced, shield tanking and timed rolling combat with Demon's Souls, but Dark Souls was something else, something magical. All of what you said here is the way that I felt on my first playthrough (quickly followed by another 3). The way that at first I felt lost, not knowing what to do or where to go, slowly making progress for fear of dying and losing my precious souls, it was after battling through blighttown when I got to an elevator, and heard a familiar tune, and the screen prompted that I was back in firelink shrine, it was when my mind was blown to see how the world is connected back to familiar places, how open ended everything is, and how the game doesn't tell you a thing, and leaves it to you to find it, amplifying the sense of discovery. It still is my favorite blind experience I had with the series, and the one game that I wish I could erase from my memory just to experience it all for the first time once again.
I was cursed headed back from ash lake and at the bottom of the great hollow. Under leveled and without a purging stone, it nearly broke the game for me. I recall getting to a blighttown-looking area and being one-shot over and over. Anyone, who made it to the depths to purchase the stone and continue the game, is heroic through and through.
This game changed my whole view on gaming and took me through multiple emotions whilst teaching me lessons along the way. Absolutely a masterpiece and I could play it over and over again.
I prefer the slow telegraph combat over the fast paced combat that Bloodborne (my first souls) started, most of the time feels that you can humanly dodge the attacks.
I recently got into the Souls series around 2 years ago, but played the games in order. For me DS1 is the best. Looking at it critically; it may have weak bosses at times, some bad late game areas, not yet refined combat, etc. But it has what people refer to as the "IT factor." What makes it special isn't anything in particular, but the entire package as a whole. Just everything about the game ranging from big things like world design, character builds, and combat; down to the little things like sound of your armor, obscure lore details, and even the tone in which NPCs talk to you.
7:04 currently in my first play through and I completely missed the entrance to the chaos witch’s boss room so I kept going until I found the tree, and it had a message that told me about the entrance to the great hollow
CONGRATS ON ONE MILLION VIEWS!!!!! ❤❤❤
I went in order and its truly been one of the best journeys of my life. Nothing can ever replicate your first run of Dark Souls. Its beyond a masterpiece.
Love how you’re just casually walking off the edge at the end.
Originally I planned to have a compilation of slowly walking through different areas, ending with that clip. But I still wanted it in the vid
on my first playthrough I completed the entire game with 6-10 estus because I didn't know about kindling
Wow. That's an achievement!
Certified Dark Souls Classic
Right now i am almost at the end of Sekiro and had a reminder why i love this franchise. Glad this video came out the right time
Elden Ring wasn’t my first fromsoft game (i played about half of DS3 over the course of a week at my cousins) but it was my true introduction. Fast forward to hundreds of hours in each Dark Souls has quickly become my favorite in the series and I quite literally have 0 clue why other than I like it more
You deserve much more subscribers, quality of your video is really high. Greetings from Bosnia ;)
I like to sit back and imagine how good the second half of the game would be if the team had more time and experience. Imagining Lost Izalith completely reimagined and the Bed of Chaos being a truly grandiose boss gives me goosebumps! But seriously what an amazing video congratulations!!
I'm one of those rare people who thinks that the second half of the game is still super-fun. I never really understood how people didn't enjoy it as much. I mean, I get their criticisms, but all of it is still really fun to me, even Bed of Chaos. I don't think I was ever able to do it in one try, but it was still fun to attempt it.
I like to sit back and imagine how good the first half of the game would be. I’m sorry but only Sens Fortress and Anal rodeo are good early game areas, the other are just so generic
5:44 same thing happend to me and I was dumb enought to not find a way out of the catacombs so I left it there at level 28 or so and started a new playthrough XD😅
I recently decided to revisit Dark Souls 1. This time playing the original release on PS3. & purchasing the DLC. And honestly, I prefer it to the remaster. Sure there are cumbersome aspects. Like the frame lag in Blighttown, not being able to fast climb ladders, or having to consume soul items 1 at a time. But they're small inconveniences, in an otherwise all-time great game. Having played every From Soft game other than DS2. I'm finding myself reluctant to move onto DS2. Currently on my NG+++ playthrough. And I'm enjoying it as much as ever! I very much enjoyed your video. Great work!👍👊 Btw, best way to farm Titanite Chunks is the Darkwraiths after draining New Londo Ruins. They even drop Slab's 5% of the time.👌
I will say, the bonfires look damn elegant in the original version.
My first soulsborne experience was Elden Ring and I was absolutely amazed. After sekiro and ds1, and DS3 soon, it's amazing how well ds1 holds up. For me, though, I found sekiro to be the most purely enjoyable experience. I think every game in the franchise has unique strengths and aspects that make them quality games in their own right.
Don't forget about DS2. It's not a bad game.
@@psterud oh yeah I know, just haven't got round to it yet
Very nice video and ds1 will always be my favorite souls game, also nice brawlhalla music in the background
i love ur video,i played ds3 as my first souls and then ds1 and I LOVED IT,i liked the fact that i didnt know where to go,u are just right
The world was absolutely mind blowing once you connected some of the loops. I mean, my mind was blown and than I discovered the lake underneath the tree and could not believe what I was seeing. Also, the fact that I had no clue what to expect from the start makes this game an all time classic. Right up there with Pong and Mario.
Did you just compare DS1 with Pong? LOL. I know what you mean, but I've never heard that one before. "Pong is the Dark Souls of... old 2D tennnis-like games played with paddles." I'm old enough to know Pong. We had it on our TV back in the '70s. We could definitely say that Dark Souls and Pong were both brutal. And both classics! :D
About ash lake I kind of got to experience it mostly blind. The only thing I saw when I was looking some stuff up mid play session was a picture showing the entrance to great hollow, when I saw that I closed out the tab, and booted up the game to go check it out myself. Even though I had a pointer, the experience was still so surreal!
18:14 Frampt: "Hraaaoogggh!" Automatic subtitles: [Applause]
Started playing DS1 for the first time this month. Elden Ring brought me here. After that I stopped by in Yharnam and after finishing yet another masterpiece I realized, that I need to know the legend itself. Bought the Trilogy and jump right into it. Right now I'm struggling with Ornstein and Smough in a magnificent sunsetlit city of Anor Londo, and so far I'm loving it! After I got out of there I love even The Sen's Fortress. No game ever give me what this place gave me.. Anyway, I see so many things that are just like from Elden Ring, sometimes I catch myself thinking these are The Lands Between or part of its lore at least. Too many similarities. Something similar to ER? Gimme! Can't wait to get to the 3rd. And I still have a hope that DS2 I might actually love, too.
A lot of Elden Ring's design was based on DS1, but it draws from all the games, even Demon's Souls, Bloodborne and Sekiro. Don't be in a rush to get to DS3. It's good, but all the games have their charms. DS2 is also good. Don't listen to the naysayers. Just enjoy it for what it is. It is simply different.
I thank myself for having played Dark Souls 1 as my first soulsborne game many years ago.
For any one who loves Dark Souls I, you should definitely try the mod Age of Sunlight. It literally makes the game better by fixing stuffs, adding new rings, weapons, spells and even enemies's attack while being lore friendly, keeping the game's core without anything excessive.
Yes! Yes! I'm glad there's someone else who played that mod! That mod was so fun and I think it's underrated! I honestly want to play that mod again!
@@davidnewhart2533 Do it again, make a torch build.
To share my own experience, on my first playthrough I went to the cathedral but did not find the gargoille so I started to explore and discovered the butterfly, then I fought Capra demon, all the way down to queelag and after beating her I was clueless of what I should do so I went on Google and saw that dumb scale to the gargoille. The problem was that I was so ahead in the game that I 2-shotted the gargouille and took absolutely no challenge beating them. That's another proof that nobody will Follow the same path playing this incredible game! Nice video btw
Dark souls was my second souls game, I started with Elden Ring. I had to power through the tough start and it really helped that a friend wanted to enjoy it through me by me streaming it via discord. I ended up absolutely loving the game. Now I’m playing 3, which is just another masterpiece on its own. But for some reason the magic feeling of DS1 just hits different!
There are so many Dark Souls 1 essays, analysis, etc. around here, but even after all these years I genuinely can't stop watching them. It is to the point where my wife makes fun of me for watching yet another DS1 video 😅 I love to hear what different people think about the game and I'm glad, that people still talk about it. So thank you for the video!
Same. My GF makes fun of me too.
Great video! I feel like you touch on it a bit but I feel like as far as souls games go DS1 has the world slider cranked to max and the mechanics slider low (relative to souls) and DS3 is the reverse, world on min mechanics on max. That’s why out of the 3 DS2 is my favorite to go back and replay. It’s just the perfect blend. I burn out on DS1 having a lot of runs end at the duke’s archives and I find DS3 loses its hook as after the first dozen crazy warrior with infinite stamina who never stops attacking I feel like I’ve seen everything the game has to offer. Though now Elden Ring is probably king of the dark souls
I came to fromsoft when I was 6 I am 13 almost 14 and came back to the first and only game I ever played but never beat it so I'm back and still love it
Rolling/Dodge. Area design. Armor design, skybox art, texture design, voice acting, color palettes, enemy design, animations, controls. Story. Item descriptions. There are so many more things but these are the elements that make it so special
It is funny that you say rolling/dodging as the first, when i think that rolling is the one that aged badly the most in DS1. When i replayed the DS1, it annoyed me the most, that you can only roll 4-way when locked on and you have to unlock to get the free roll. That being said, it nonetheless still a great game.
@@darq7000 stop using lock on so much
the parrying is so good with replay. you feel like some kind of god
I haven't watched the video yet. But I agree. Still my favourite in the trilogy. I really like Demon's Souls as well
when i first played ds1 i accidentally killed the giant blacksmith by clicking back into the game window while standing next to him, and i finished the game with a claymore, proceeded to do the exact same fucking thing in ng+ and rush through the rest of ng+ just because i was enjoying it so much and kept saying to myself “damn i’ll just save the boss souls for next ng+” just the fact that me fucking my entire run just made me wanna play more is a testament to the quality of the game
So tragic yet wholesome
I think the cursemachanic is pretty genius. Its like a new quest started, you are in a completly new area and you have to find the stone to get uncursed with 50% HP. Of course it takes its time, but like i said, its like a little quest!
Dark Souls 1 is just that game you never forget. Ive done alot with it..hoo my.... The very 1st two rings i grab when i started a new build are that sacrifice ring in the bridge as a ensurance in case i die (need those souls from Pinwell not been wasted)to get my 2nd ring wich is silver serpent ring in T.o.T.G.then return to Firelink. By this point my new character has good souls (Pinweel), a random mask from it,some souls to pop up i grab in there and in some builds i also grab Gravelord G.S. Meanwhile returning to Firelink,binoculars and winged spear (if needed).Zweyhander and a small shield are picked when goin to catacombs before doing what ive described earlier so im quite ready for build my new character with 20% more souls gain. Its a ritual for me.☺
4:45 hehe. Same happened to me, skeleton wheels brings me nightmare to this day. but i did go to blight town after.
Very few games have ever consumed my entire being the way the original DARK SOULS did the first time I played it--and it still does to this day. To the point that I spent weeks thinking about it and obsessing over all the small details even when I was going to my day to day. Only time that ever happened was when I first played Ocarina or Shenmue. Truly one of the most groundbreaking games in the history of the game industry.
Started the series with 3 and went to ds1. Not being able to warp was kinda lame until I figured out the way the world was connected. Enjoyed both immensely, but give the overall nod to one given its time period and how they laid it out
I’m quite new to the soulsbourn games with ds1 being the only game I have and I can honestly say it might be one of my favorite video games of all time
Phantastic Video. Spoke do my soul.
14:52 what is that transition art from?
Sick vid of a great game, definitely stands up today amidst all of Fromsoft's home-runs!
Kinda random, but for my first play I went to blight town first. I still think of the “back entrance” as the main entrance, not the one from the depths. So quelag was my first boss post asylum demon
Wow. That's intense.
2:25 - "actual level" - that's the thing though. what the non-linearity and interconnectivity does is get rid of the notion of "levels" in gamespace terms. we only refer to them as such because that's the language we use when talking about games. I'd argue that many other open world games don't have levels either, like the 2 new zeldas or skyrim/oblivion. what they have are maps. metroidvanias also have maps but with powerups adding to traversal, you can make clear notions between "levels" in those kinds of games unlike the games with maps you're free to traverse at your leisure
Ive started playing it recently after 140h of Elden Ring and honestly was surprised how well made this game is
It's amazing to me how Miyazaki was able to create a game to age so well, it's beautiful 🥲
I played DS1 when it first came out on the PS3. It was the most immersive and mysterious game I'd ever played. Nothing else was like it at the time besides Demon's Souls, which I hadn't played. Exploring Lordran is still unlike anything I've experienced since from FromSoft. Your point about no fast travel, super tight level design, and shortcuts made exploring the game like a tense dungeon crawl throughout. It's still my favorite souls game ever with the most memorable world and characters.
DARK SOULS 1 will ALWAYS BE my FAVORITE GAME OF ALL TIME! I keep going back from time to time since it's my home too!!!
I have played all of them (except BB, because no PS4) and even though the others definitely are more streamlined and perfected certain aspects of the Fromsoft formula, none managed to capture me like DS1 (150 hours on the remake, almost 600 hours on the prepare to die edition, 130 on my first game plus NG+). For me it is mostly the calm athmosphere, lore and amazing world design. Even the lesser areas, like lost izalith have things going for them and until OnS it is the best world I have ever played.
Ive literally watched atleast 20 to 30 dark souls 1 review/ critiques and your one piece reference got you a like from me lmao The world when one piece is over probably is going to look like a dark souls game
I especially agree with the RPG argument. When I play dark souls 1 I tried my hardest to find cheese ways (not to the level of glitches) to deal with bosses and I can always find some. The fact that pyromancy has no stat requirement to me is probably the most obvious hint to players that they should maybe find some level of cheese to deal with the challenges.
Its one of my most played games of all time And despite preferring all the souls games besides des and ds2, I have a soft spot for it
ds2 is so good the only annoying part is the hollow hp mechanic.
@@ryanharvey1610 World design, clunky ass movement and combat, 90% of bosses are some dude in a suit of armour, adaptability, linear levels, horde encounters...
@@yaboy8846 horde encounters and hollow are still the only bad parts i think adaptability allows the game to last longer by not letting u pour stat points in one thing. Also the world design of ds2 is good? and also Majula might be the best hub of any souls game
@@ryanharvey1610 Adaptability is a terrible skill due to being directly correlated with invincibility frames meaning that if you want to be able to dodge attacks with any modicum of reliability you are forced to level it. Making the argument that it's not bad due to making 'the game last longer' is redundant as you could make the same argument for leveling any other useless skill. How is the world design good? There is very little consistency in locations and transitions between these locations. The transition from Earthen Peak to the Iron Keep is the best example of this. When compared with world design in DS1 the difference is night and day. I'll agree with you that Majula is a great hub world but I think this is largely carried by the music.
@@yaboy8846 iron keep is ass but first of all when u say other useless skills which ones do u mean?and also i think having somewhat control over ur i frames reward players who spread apart their leveling. But yeah you defining what an invincibility frame is doesn’t really show how adaptability is a bad skill. It also adds more depth so every single time u press the b button in that game the same exact thing isn’t happening. It also makes it much harder to dodge which forces you to think abt the timing of ur dodges more.
Dark souls is the more authentic, and memorable, there is bosses in ds3 that I don’t even remember anymore but all of them in ds1 are just more iconic
I'm the complete opposite, i think DS1 has one of the weaker collection of bosses whilst DS3 has the best in fromsoft's catalogue.
The first souls game I ever played, going through ds2 right now and will start ds3 once I beat the three dlcs
As a person whos currently playing Dark Souls 1, when should i play the dlc? After i beat the game or save gwyn for last?
It's one of the few games that explains why you can die and respawn in a video game. It was just a standard mechanic in every game just so you could keep playing. But Dark Souls made it part of the story and worldbuilding and invented a whole new genre of game in the process. So much good design came from taking the concept literally. And going hollow is a metaphor for getting frustrated and quitting, the only true death. Love it. My favorite game of all time.
Awesome video!!
When I first played it I really didn’t like it because it was clunky and didn’t have the beet bosses just the other day I decided I needed to go back and beat it and I was shocked I had a blast
I think that’s the experience a lot of us have with it