Dark Souls 1: A new players perspective (Part 2, The Beginning)

3. My Step by Step run and impressions

I named my Character Sir Diesalot, which, call me Nostradamus, was quite an accurate description of how the game went. I created a standard Warrior character as the stats looked the best and went off to learn the game.

3.1 Undead Asylum: 2 Deaths; 3 Boss Deaths

The introduction is generally done very well. Controls are introduced quickly and are for the most part sufficiently reinforced. I died 3 times to the Asylum Demon thinking "this is just how hard the game is apparently" before I noticed that you're supposed to run away.

The game also teaches you that it doesn't intend to be entirely fair by hitting you with a boulder to the face that deals little damage, but I didn't learn that lesson because of my preconceptions.

A wall breaks, you get your Estus flasks and the game begins. I do want to point out that our helpful knight could have handed over his weapon and shield. Not to be ungrateful or anything but you know...

My deaths were both to an attempt at learning to parry. The lesson I learned at this point was not to use parry. The real fight against the Asylum Demon was introduced nicely. The contrast of weapon damage reinforced the idea that using powerful weapons will be important throughout the game. I beat him on my first real try after learning the patterns while insisting to stab him with my old rusty needle.

This area isn't exciting or special in any way, but it serves as a near-perfect introduction to the game. 9/10

3.2 Undead Burg: 2 Deaths; 1 Boss Death; 6 Bonus Deaths

Arriving at firelink shrine was interesting, there was immediately a lot to explore and the skeletons near the Catacombs not so subtly advised me I might be going the wrong way. I eventually found my way toward Undead Burg.

Ranged fire weapons were introduced well and different types of similar enemies were also introduced right away. At this point, I still struggled a lot with the controls. Dodge rolls never went where I wanted, I constantly confused A and B (thanks for that btw Nintendo) and I struggled with the fact that the game queued up inputs and didn't allow you to interrupt them.

Undead Burg was forgiving enough to allow me to make my way through it despite my failures. Not knowing how to run may actually have helped me here because I had to approach everything slowly and carefully. I only died to the lance wielding hollow with a shield. I didn't know how to kick yet. Exploring was fun and rewarded with a hidden merchant who even sold a key, finding archers in advance that may have sniped me in the back otherwise and more. My main issue with the level is that it is fairly small, but that is hardly something I can complain about.

I also was intrigued by the Black Knight. You were obviously not supposed to beat him yet, so naturally, I tried to beat him.

I tried many different strategies involving blocking and dodging. At some point, I lured him back to a ledge and tried to drop on top of him. That worked fine but one miss meant death. In the end, I figured I'd finally learn how to parry. I died once learning the timing and then effortlessly beat him after dying to him a total of 6 times before.

This was my first experience where I felt like I had broken the game. All these drawn-out fights I had with him and the solution was to essentially cheese him. It still felt rewarding but somewhat cheap.

Taurus Demon was an odd encounter. I beat him by jumping on his head after dying to him once. It felt like cheesing him but I liked the use of environment which the game would subsequently almost entirely ignore.

I then made my way forward towards the bridge where I somehow wasn't killed by the dragon because I randomly turned around to look for a bonfire before fighting the enemies on the bridge. Apparently I got extremely lucky as I was told this is basically designed as a cheap kill.

I don't know what to think of it, but the way back there wouldn't have been long enough to really bother me. It may have helped me learn more quickly that the game isn't trying to be fair even, but you know... the game is always fair I was told. I made my way below the bridge and found the ladder that linked back to the bonfire. That was a fantastic moment and a lesson in great world design. 10/10

3.3 Undead Parish: 6 Deaths; 8 Boss Deaths; 9 Bonus Deaths

Undead Parish is probably where the real game begins. The spike in difficulty is imo the largest other than maybe Ornstein and Smough.

But first things first. I made my way towards undead parish below the bridge where I encountered the first instance of deliberate and unnecessary time waste in the game.

The lanced undead in a narrow pathway that leads to Undead Parish. He can attack you but you'll hit the wall if you try to hit him.

Every time I tried to get past him I wasted a minute of my time. The rats behind him that can poison you bothered me as well. I only got poisoned once but it was a death sentence I recognized too late.

I really don't understand why poison needs to stay for so long. It ate through all my flasks as I slowly killed the Boar, which let me backstab it once and then decided to bug.

I also made my way up to the second black knight who killed me before I even saw him. I made my way back up, after all, I learned how to beat him before. As I tried to lure him down the stairs he fell through the floor and died. Did I mention the game is a buggy mess at times?

I liked the rest of the level for the most part. I died twice to the guys with the rapiers in front of the Church and once to the Knight guarding the Firekeeper Soul. I don't remember what else killed me but my list says 6 deaths so there must be two more. Finding the blacksmith was interesting. I didn't really know how rare resources were, so I ignored him for the time being.

I decided to run away very, very quickly after the first electric beam attack of that stone thingy in the basement.

Undead Parish so far was fantastic and became even greater when I suddenly figured out what that weird shaft by firelink shrine was. Again: I love the world design here, it's fantastic.

However, this was the point where I started to hate the game for the first time. At this point, I was using a spear, which I would continue to use for the rest of the game because it doesn't hit walls as much. I could kill all the empowered Zombies with two strong attacks.

I died to the Summoners Zombie herd 9 times before deciding that I had to let go of my notion that the game was fair.

What happened was that the Summoner relentlessly bombarded me with his range attack while blocking the Zombies from entering the corridor where I had learned to kill them at my first attempt before I died to a poorly timed attack.

The problem now was that every time I attacked the Summoner, some Zombies would be able to clip through him, most of the time killing me instantly. I also couldn't lure them out of the room.

I ran my head against the wall there for way too long before Summoner Dudes AI decided to stop blocking the door and I could kill the zombies. This was my first moment of immense frustration and also why I am not sure whether you are supposed to break the game.

Any ranged weapon would have made this fight trivial, yet as a melee, I had to deal with all the bugs and bs the game threw at me. I still stuck to my no ranged attacks rule tho and was beyond relieved to see that floaty Hitler didn't respawn after my first death to the gargoyles.

Speaking of the gargoyles: I died here 3 times before realizing I had to upgrade my weapon. I didn't know about invincibility frames yet so it felt impossible to dodge all their attacks and I decided it would be best to go for a dps race strategy.

After upgrading my weapon to +5 (I was level 21) the fight went pretty well, but I didn't feel like I really beat them after it was over. I felt overleveled despite never farming souls and I'm not sure this was intended.

It started a trend of me wondering what the game wants me to play like.

I also want to mention a bit of bs here where they can push you off the church simply by turning around. While my dodge rolls are stopped by a 1-inch thick plank on the floor bosses have the freedom to move like they have a gravitational field around them. It was quite annoying.

The fight is overall pretty great I think but I was still beyond annoyed from what I had experienced before the fight. Overall this area was very hit and miss for me. 8/10

3.4. Lower Undead Burg: 3 Deaths

After taking a moment to figure out where to go after ringing the first bell I remembered this area that I was too scared to enter before.

It's a pretty small one. You free a magic dude and handle some ambushes. It was fun but not incredible.

Finding my way back through the aqueduct was fantastic and at this point, I had come to expect it and already knew where I was going as soon as I had entered the tunnel.

I do want to complain a little about how incredibly loud walking through water is though because that was quite a long way of noise pollution.

The dogs got me twice here and I was a little too eager to loot the thieves armor to survive the ambush there. This is where I switched my gear for the first time and learned about the equipment load.

It was incredibly freeing and finally made my dodge rolls actually feel truly viable. I only ever switched armor sets twice after this moment and stuck with this set for a long time.

Capra Demon is not a boss, it's a design failure. I beat it first try and am incredibly grateful that I lucked my way through this. Having two dogs and a Boss that fast made the fight a challenge to start it, not to beat it.

I noticed that after I died to it 4 times with a strength build character I created some time during my playthrough to see if I was wrong to skill into dexterity. It's completely luck based to get the first dodge right and somehow kill the dogs. The fight is fairly trivial after that. I hate it with a burning passion.

I'll still give the area a 9/10 and will simply ignore Capra Demon because I got lucky. It's still bs. I was level 25.

3.5 Depths: 4 Deaths: 6 Boss Deaths

The entrance into the Depths is pretty great. The torch zombies are a nice and surprising twist on what I had experienced so far and I had gotten used to the dogs by then.

I still died to the dogs twice when I learned that stairs break combat and would like to somewhat complain about the long way back here.

I beat the butcher and was surprised to find out he didn't respawn despite seeming like a normal enemy.

I freed some guy (forgot who it was) and moved on towards the slow water thingy.

I got caught by the trap that was laid out and instantly died. I don't consider it fair, but I'll be happy to indulge anyone's differing opinion this one considering the clue was at least actually there.

I then made my way through more of these slimes in a grueling slow process where I struggled to hit them with my spear. Complete waste of time.

I liked the sewer system and the rats in this a lot. The big rat was also a fun extra challenge that wasn't all too hard and it felt good to easily murder one of the floaty Hitlers in a fair environment.

I explored the area and found just about everything except a way to move forward, so I decided to jump down one of the holes I had avoided before, landed next to a frog creature and was immediately dead and informed that I am now cursed. The game is always fair.

I'd like to point out that this area is overall easy so the curse didn't bother me much. The curse enemies are actually pretty fun and I think I died to a fall damage bug or maybe it's a scripted kill? I don't know, it was weird. These Toads are so slow and have such low health that they aren't really a challenge.

Unfortunately, my weapon broke down here so I had to make my way through the time-wasting puddles of mud. Great.

I made my way through the area discovered the locked entrance to Blighttown and made my way to Gaping Dragon.

As I eluded to before my first death here was hiding behind a pillar and dying instantly.

My next attempts were to attack him from the side and I died instantly to his grab attack. I attempted going for his tail twice, which worked out quite well, but I always died to one hit so I finally made the decision to heal my curse first and also upgraded my spear to a raw one while I was at it.

The time-wasting puddles of mud were eager to play fetch with me yet again and I was naturally having an absolute blast.

Gaping Dragon died to my first attempt after I healed curse. I managed to cut off his tail somehow and the fight became comically trivial. I didn't get hit once. I was level 28.

It is hard to rate this area. I got really unlucky, I think. I also think curse is just an unnecessary nuisance that has no place in the game. Still, I liked the claustrophobic feel of this area and the boss, while too easy, was pretty fun to fight. 8/10

3.6. Upper Blighttown: 4 Deaths

I've split up upper and lower Blighttown for reasons most people will understand, I think. I've also combined Queelag's Domain with lower Blighttown.

The entrance to Blighttown is fantastic. The change in light and atmosphere is one of the best in the game and the seemingly random layout of the place is incredible.

I usually don't like lack of light, but I think the game nailed it in this one. The enemies are a great step up in difficulty and were always challenging and fun to fight. I somehow struggled with the Big Club Orge guys and died to them twice.

I also got killed by the fire foxes once and generally took so much damage from them that I went back to the bonfire. My spear simply missed them with most of my attacks.

I didn't experience toxic yet. I got lucky to kill those guys before the bar filled, otherwise, I might have a worse opinion of this area.

I liked how the game invited you to experiment with jumping towards unexplored areas that you wouldn't be able to return from right away.

All those items luring you in were fantastic bait and I lost my orientation so much that I couldn't find my way back out of the area, which was especially harsh because my weapon broke.

I resorted to using a falchion from my Inventory and it actually added to the frantic helpless atmosphere of the place. I fell off one of the moving bridges once while trying to push one of the enemies to their death.

Considering I cut the area in two this is unfortunately quite short. I made my way down to the bonfire where the entire place felt different. As far as Upper Blighttown goes: 10/10, I loved it.

3.7 Lower Blighttown: 4 Deaths; 4 Boss Deaths

I don't hate this place, but I also don't know what the developers were thinking.

You can't avoid poison, you're slowed down to a crawl. I still didn't know how to run. The enemies there look intimidating but are incredibly harmless.

The Flies are near impossible to hit.

I only died once to one of the slow-moving worm maggot thingies. They're incredibly easy to beat but I learned quite painfully that they deal a surprising amount of damage.

I also learned after the fact that there's a secret hidden somewhere by the tree I think. I didn't find it, I'd like to go back to explore, but you know... things happened, which I'll get into.

I really enjoyed my fight with the two boulder ogres. Their attacks were easy enough to dodge but I was out of estus because of the poison and so I had to dodge them all. I considered a "no backstab" rule after beating them but decided against it.

I didn't realize Queelags Domain was hidden behind the other three ogres so I made my way out towards firelink shrine and was yet again amazed by the world design.

I also got killed by the dragon trap. I wanted to kill him but I have no idea how I'm ever supposed to get close to him. I ran past him and decided I wasn't supposed to go there when encountering the Bronze Dragons.

It took me a while to realize I must have missed the boss in Blighttown so I also learned about the invincible skeletons in the catacombs etc. but I won't get into that yet.

With my Bonfire set to firelink shrine and 10 estus I made my way back to Blighttown and got killed by the two ogres in the path.

Somehow beating the skeletons in the catacombs quite easily made me feel invincible. I wasn't.

I then also slipped off the wonderfully designed elevator and died once again.

After finding Queelags Domain I had another go at being murdered when I killed one of the infested thingies and got ambushed by these impossible to hit maggots. I never killed one of these mobs again.

When I first fought Queelag I thought she was BS. I now think she's my favorite Boss.

She was the first Boss with an AOE attack that outright kills you (at least it did kill me outright) and a tell, that is impossible to read before seeing it once.

However, I think she's my favorite because after learning her moves she was incredibly fun to fight. Her moves come quickly and have multiple ways to dodge and the lava actually changes the environment in a way that forced me to adapt and not just repeat patterns as I did with most other bosses. I was Level 32 when I beat her.

This area is hard to judge. I didn't particularly mind or enjoy it but the boss fight was fantastic. I think Queelag elevates the area to a generous 8/10

3.8 Sen's Fortress: 13 Deaths

After ringing the second bell I first went to steal the armor from ceaseless discharge. I died to that boss 3 times at this point but I'll get into it later. I only mention it because the armor he guarded was my armor of choice for the rest of the game.

Sen's Fortress has a nice way to greet you and inform you what kind of area you're about to enter.

The trap at the gate likely won't kill you but give you a good clue that you should pay attention to your surroundings. It also has two enemies upfront that I think are meant to tell you that the game is getting harder now. I was so bad at fighting these that I died 3 times to them before I made it past them.

The first room introduced me to the swinging ax trap. It's easy to dodge and completely fair. I thought. So when I went past it I got hit by a lightning bolt, pushed off the edge and died. The game is always fair.

Back to the two entrance guards for me. After having mastered the battle with these two I made quick work of them this time around. By which I mean I just ran past them after first dying to them again with my magnificent improved strategy that didn't work.

This time around I made it past the axes in a way that allowed me to sprint past the mage and fight the snakeguy on the bridge by luring him back. At this point, I had finally mastered that enemy type and skillfully blocked his attack in a way that pushed me off the bridge.

So after running past the first two guards and luring bridge buddy into an ax, which worked to my satisfaction. I then made it up to the wizard dude and killed him. I didn't pay attention and triggered the trap behind him but luckily didn't get hit. I had finally actually entered the area.

At this point, I made it to the outside and those of you who remember that I didn't know how to run yet probably know what happened.

I waited for the fairly telegraphed boulder to pass and made my way up the path. I got a boulder into my face, which threw me off the edge and I was greeted by my old friend the "you died" screen. Thank you game. I'm aware.

After forgetting about lightning snake dude and falling off the bridge once more I made it back to the boulder. I undressed completely and ran up the way. I got hit by the boulder but was allowed to continue this time around.

I made it into the room on the side, killed the magic snake friend who guarded the upper half of the boulder pathway and lured another snake dude into the dart trap.

This is where I learned enemies can't trigger traps and got an unexpected, lethal sword to the face.

At this point, I googled what I should have googled a long time ago, "how to sprint in Dark Souls" and was greeted by the old charm of the Dark Souls community of people informing me I'm an idiot who can't read and was informed that "this is why games these days must be dumbed down like crazy these days". At least they mentioned it's holding down B.

I made my way back, sprinting past all enemies like the godlike player that I am and learning how to jump when I wanted to simply let go of B but apparently hit the button again. Naturally, I made my way into a welcoming ax blade, which didn't kill me... Because Lightning McQueen is not only a camper but also a kill stealer.

I was still weirdly enjoying this area but I will say that I really wish there was a closer bonfire. I won't go into every detail but I also died to the mimic, the elevator that looks suspicions but I can't look up so I'll have to see and die and I also got shot off from Wizardsnake the 4th on the very thin path near the top.

I loved the contrast when I exited the dark insides of the fortress and made my way to the lovely, mildly flammable, outside. This area was pretty sparse with enemies and I made my way through it quite easily. I was surprised by the stabby Hollow Knight but delighted to get a unique sword that felt like an invitation for suicide had I actually bothered to use it.

I made my way up to our friendly neighborhood pyromaniac and murdered him without actually having any idea what I was doing. At this point, I was out of estus charges, near a fog door and hadn't found a bonfire so I started looking.

I think this Bonfire is just obvious enough to be found and inform you that Bonfires are sometimes hidden. I think it comes too late, but it was the only Bonfire that actually ever made me feel relief. I also made the jump over to the tower and generally enjoyed my exploration.

When I fought Iron Golem I was level 36 and my spear was raw +3.

This Boss was incredibly disappointing for a generally amazing, yet sometimes unfair area. I beat him on my first try. He can't do anything to you as long as you stay fairly close. Except grab you.

This attack almost killed me. He also grabbed an area approximately 3 football fields to my left when he got me. This is by far the most hilariously broken hitbox I've ever seen.

No matter, I barely survived and killed him. I was also a coward so I made my way back and restored my estus charges before going any further.

It's hard to rate this area. The Boss was disappointing and the area has some 1st-grade bs like slightly touching the back of a boulder that moves away from you, which hits you for half your health for whatever reason etc. 8/10

3.9 Anor Londo: 5 deaths; 28 Boss Deaths; 8 Bonus Deaths

Yes. 28. If you would kindly stop laughing at me now, I'd like to continue in the script. (Let's be real here, nobody is reading this anymore)

So Anor Londo. The cutscene and change of scenery here were so fantastic that I was maybe too hyped for this area. I loved the visuals here so much that I was thinking 10/10 before even entering here at all. Unfortunately, this area feels incredibly unfinished and unpolished.

I started by going down the stairs into a room and saw two scary looking knights and a chest behind them. I mean it's a chest, right, how hard can they be?

I think I kited these knights around Anor Londo for about 5 minutes before I killed them and I don't even remember what was in the chest.

I went back to the last Bonfire, returned to Anor Londo and lit the Bonfire that was approximately 5 inches and a toddler's stone-throw away from where I decided to return to the last bonfire.

I learned that you could pull only one of these knights in the next room and made quick work of the next three.

The area felt empty and desolate and having these lonesome but giant knights there was a fantastic choice.

They were easy to beat but punished any mistake quite brutally.

I found the locked gate and made my way towards the gargoyle rematch. I found out that I had never really learned how to beat these and simply beat him (and his brother on the other side) by outgearing them. It was a nice callback nonetheless. I wish they respawned.

I quite quickly found my way inside the Cathedral to the side and up to an incredibly unnecessary tightrope passage that probably wouldn't bother me if I hadn't slipped off once.

So far I didn't have many issues with this area.

I made my way to the corkscrew thingies and unfortunately didn't find the Bonfire hidden below. Not. Good. More later.

I entered the main area, defeated both knights and was surprised to find that our helpful carrier pidgeons weren't so helpful anymore.

I lured one out and beat it in a pretty tough fight. I went to pull another as the third decided to slip off the edge and fall to its death. They can fly. They have wings. How do they fall to their death?

I tried to fight the last one but it also managed to fall to its demise. At this point, I figured that maybe this place wasn't properly tested.

I made my way forward and came across two more friendly winged lemmings. I tried to pull them individually but it didn't work, so I pulled both and tried to kite them back. I watched them fail to move up that little pathway and was hit by an arrow out of nowhere that threw me off the path to my death. The game is always fair.

I made my way back to the area. Up the stairs, wait for the elevator, go down the elevator, walk in a straight line for an hour, beat the knights, let the Lemmings end themselves.

I tried to fight both of these guys at once this time. I don't think it's possible to kill them, so from now on I just ran past them every time. I died that time, of course.

Up the stairs, wait for the elevator, go down the elevator, walk in a straight line for an hour, walk past the knights, walk past both pairs of lemmings.

So the two archers. I read up on this after beating the game and I don't think there is a consensus on whether or not these are fair. They're not, they're absolutely not.

You make your way to the knight quite easily but your weapon WILL hit the wall here and the other knight can shoot you in the back. I died here 3 times.

(3x Up the stairs, wait for the elevator, go down the elevator, walk in a straight line for an hour, walk past the knights, walk past both pairs of lemmings)

The fourth time The knight somehow managed to fall off the edge and I made it past. Victory. I found the Bonfire and explored the area. There was a nice hidden set of armor. The enemies were pretty fun when you don't constantly hit a wall but they are also champions of attacking you through walls.

I made my way up to the stone thingy in that one room and unfortunately died to it. No biggie, right.

This is where I learned that you have to rest at bonfires to make them a reset point. Lighting doesn't do the trick. Fun times.

Up the stairs, wait for the elevator, go down the elevator, walk in a straight line for an hour, walk past the knights, walk past both pairs of lemmings, die to the archer knight 5 more times. Somehow manage to walk past him. REST at the Bonfire quit the game for the day because at this point your hatred for it could burn down a kindergarden by simply looking at it.

The next day I died to stone buddy once more before killing it and also pulled a few too many non-suicidal lemmings near the smith. I want to applaud the decision to put a smith here again because I think you'll go mad if you don't have the damage for Ornstein and Smough. Speaking of:

Ornstein and Smough, my friendly serial killer friends.

I'll preface this by saying that I was never more shocked about anything in my life than finding out how many people consider this buggy pile of bs the best Boss in the entire series. But unlike the "When you die it is always your fault" lie that you tell yourselves, I can see where people are coming from and, upon reflection, I rate this boss a lot higher than I would have.

However considering how unfinished the entire area felt and how broken the boss fight is I sort of failed to see the positive here for a while.

When I started this fight I spent about 15 attempts just learning how to kite them, avoid invisible range attacks, keep the camera from murdering me by randomly switching targets, all while usually dying to a single hit and a subsequent combo.

This was the first time I kindled a bonfire. I think in my 29 attempts I managed to use more than 5 estus maybe 3 or 4 times.

My first 22 attempts I was level 41. I beat Ornstein once in that time and got one shot by Smoughs aoe attack after.

I got so lucky with attack patterns in that fight that I put my ego aside at this point and considered it enough of a victory and looked up a guide.

I went 10 seconds into the video, saw how much damage one attack dealt and went back to my game, used all my souls and grinded knights a bit to level to 51 and a raw +5 spear.

Leveling made a massive difference mostly as far as my morale goes.

This fight leaves so few safe options for attack and Ornstein randomly chooses to dodge some of them that it is mostly a grueling patience test. Ornstein's buggy charge attack at some point even became my favorite thing about it because it was one of the few instances in the entire game where fast reaction time actually helps you. Raising your shield just in time to block an unexpected attack is infinitely more fun than hiding behind broken pillars and waiting for Ornstein to stand just in the right place to be open to attack.

It didn't take me too many more attempts to beat these two after leveling but I didn't feel any kind of excitement, I was just glad it was over.

I beat Smough in the slowest, safest way possible by falling asleep behind pillars until he goes for his smash attack and then landing a single hit over and over again. The fight was mostly boring.

Now let me explain why I understand people's idea of rating this boss so highly:

When it works, when you don't have to wait for more than a minute for a single opening, then and only then the fight is fantastic.

Keeping track of two enemies while being able to manipulate large parts of their movement is great. Having a second phase is great. Forcing me to adapt my playstyle is great. If all that manifested in a more active playstyle, if the fight wasn't so weirdly bugged, I would agree that this is one of the best fights in the game.

Anor Londo should have been a 10/10, but it's so unfinished that I almost feel generous for giving it a 7/10