As I mentioned in my previous blog post, I decided to replay Dark Souls III, but I did not mention of all the games in the series why I chose the third installment, which happens to be my least favorite (at the time). The reason is that it’s the finale of the Dark Souls series; I would like to finally piece the story together and give it another chance. Plus the Fire Fades Edition include the DLCs, which will sate my “dark souls-craving fix” since I have not played the DLCs! And I must confess, 27 hours of trial and error, I am enjoying it more than I did back in 2016 when I first played it. Apart from the interesting NPCs’ questlines, the looting and exploring are one of my favorite things about the Souls game (If interested, you can read more about my thoughts I wrote a few years ago: Dark Souls: Exploring Is an Achievement).

So far, I have completed Cemetery Ash, Firelink Shrine, High Wall of Lothric, Undead and Settlement, Road of Sacrifice, Cathedral of the Deep. However, I decided it’s best to restart the game. I was not aware that giving the Pale Tongue to Rosaria (Mother of Rebirth) would cancel Sirris, The Sunless Realm questline, who happens to be the most interesting character that I feel most connected to. I don’t know why. Maybe I admire a woman in armor who has a purpose (This sounds like a potential topic for a blog post). I remember liking Selen Vinland from Demon Souls (PS3 version) too.

By now, you might speculate that it is one of my favorite video game franchises. I have so much to say about it. And no, I don’t like it because it’s difficult. Quite the contrary, it’s a fairly challenging game, which involves strategy. When I realized the flow of Dark Souls III (memorizing enemy positions and level layouts), it took me about 9 hours to reach the part where I had to restart the game (Cathedral of the Deep). I knew what I was going into, thus making the experience seamless. This game was always meant to be played multiple times. You will fail, and that is all right because there are multiple ways to meet your objectives. You will begin to see patterns. You will learn how to dodge. You will utilize the items in the game to survive. Most of all, you need to have good reflexes, and incredible amount of patience. I think it’s a fair game once you know its rhythm.

From the time I started drafting this blog post, I defeated the Deacons of Cathedral of Deep boss, the Abyss Watcher, and High Lord Wolnir. It took me about 24 hours compared to my first playthrough which I was doing horribly because I spent hours trying to hop into the Butcher’s cage to get to an area that allowed players to join the Mound Makers Covenant. I couldn’t initiate the sequence because I entered the boss fight with Curse-rotted Greatwood before speaking to the NPC located below the area of the boss fight. Pretty much starting the battle caused the ground to collapse and kill the NPC. It was so worth it to restart the game because my first playthrough was a bad run. If you follow the natural flow of the game, progressively you will get better at navigating its world. In addition, the guides available on the internet help, if you use it as a reference.

Apart from the gameplay, one thing I love about souls games is that it feels as if I am playing inside a fantasy book. Like reading a book, I became self-aware of my own actions. I remember after beating Dark Souls II (my favorite out of the series), I felt odd sitting on a throne. I started my character as a fairytale-like human, but it ended up looking like a monster.

The realization of losing sight of humanity made me more humane in real life. A game that does that is not all that bad despite its dark theme. If you think about it, that’s why it’s called Dark Souls.