As an avid gamer, there are few things I enjoy more than a truly great game, and "Dark Souls" is probably my favorite game of all time. This game really has it all: breathtaking scenery, terrifying monsters, extremely interesting lore, a uniquely challenging combat system, enormous and incredibly difficult bosses, unique and varying magic abilities and a myriad of interesting characters that tie into a complex plot.
As I mentioned already, "Dark Souls" has a combat system that is difficult to master, but I have yet to explain just how frustrating the game can be. From the time that I first bought "Dark Souls" to the first time I beat the game I probably died a thousand times. But persisting through the endless torment and finally killing the Gaping Dragon (pictured above) was incredibly rewarding. Then I made it to Anor Londo, the abandoned capital, and met an even bigger challenge in the Smough and Ornstein boss fight (below). Humor me and imagine a super challenging 2 vs. 1 boss-fight against a hammer-wielding giant and a hyper-agile lightning, spear-wielding dragon slayer. The worst part? When you defeat one, the other absorbs their powers. This is thought to be one of the toughest boss fights in the game, and yet there is someone out there who has beaten the fight with a "Guitar Hero" controller.
The "Dark Souls" community has accomplished some pretty rad things. Some of you might remember the "Twitch Plays Pokemon" which started Feb. 12, 2014. "Twitch" is a streaming site and the entire streaming community was able to input commands for the game. It took "Twitch" community members 39 days to catch all 151 Pokemon. After making a few changes to the input system, "Twitch" was able to beat "Dark Souls" in 43 days. Below is a video of the "Twitch plays 'Dark Souls'" community accomplishing something that took me a few days. (Notice the death count at the bottom of the video... This is perfectly normal for a "Dark Souls" playthrough.)
If you haven't played "Dark Souls" yet, I highly recommend that you go out and buy it. You might get frustrated, but when you make your final decision about the fate of Lordran, I'm sure you'll thank me.
