Soul Searching - My trip through the Souls Series

I was a hundred miles away from home. My best friend started a white PS3 and a game straight from Japan. All I remember was fire. And that I was afraid. "Do you wanna play?", he asked. "No. I rather watch", I replied, felling like a kid afraid to lose all his friends marbles. 

That was Demons' souls. Thirty years from now, if I can't  remember anything else, I'm sure I'll still remember the fear. When you think about it, it's all there in the wonderful intro cut scene. 




There was also a forceful loneliness that took me back to Metroid Prime. But it was somehow different. He then took me to 1-1; and it felt like home. I felt like a knight. I was invading the castle. I didn't know why, but I felt I must. I know now that a shortcut was already open, and that took me straight to the dragon. "This game will be my first purchase", I said, and I knew I needed a PS3. 

I knew that game was hard, and I'm a person prone to raging. I always was. I distinctly remember my father saying something about me breaking controllers. My friend replied "Almost every time I die, it's my fault". "I think I can live with that", and I thought, "I'll either love it or hate it". 

I loved it. I lived and breathed Demon's Souls. When I wasn't playing it, I was reading the wiki. I loved almost everything about it. The Gargoyles were insane, though. It was then that I almost quit. But I didn't. Actually, I almost got the platinum but I gave up when all I needed was a Pure Bladestone. 


By Deivuu

When Dark Souls was out I knew I'd either loved it or hate it. I saved the money to buy it at lunch, but my cat got sick. The x-rays were the exact amount. I had to wait for a sale. 

I always had a feeling I wouldn't enjoy Dark Souls. Magic was nerfed. There were talks of reused ideas and assets. It felt like it was a way to circumvent Demons' Souls exclusivity. 

I did enjoy it to a certain degree, until Smough and Ornestein. I hated the knights. I hated the effort it took to get to the bosses, and I hated how the bosses took advantage of our limitation to fight one enemy at a time. I almost quit. 



After a lot of grinding and a lot of luck in multiplayer I was able to beat them. I was happy I could proceed. Playing online was a mixed bag. People were desperate to pass and grievers had the time of their life's. 

I was pissed. It seemed impossible and unfair. But I made it.

Only to find the Four Kings. 

It took forever to get there. I needed to use consumable items to fight the enemies on my way, and basically it took me 5+ minutes to get slaughtered in seconds. I gave up. 

The game got me. I couldn't take it anymore. I wasn't having any pleasure. I was unhappy and frustrated. It was time to give up. 



Dark Souls 2 came to PC like the savior. I was build from the ground up (?), no GFWL, and solved all Dark Souls obvious problems. No grinding. Instant teleport. A solid multiplayer. I was excited. No doubts crossed my mind. I bought it. I loved it. 

125 hours later, the Dark Soul achievement is mine. I felt like I deserved it years ago, but such is life (in case you're wondering, I have 4 friends on Steam so I wasn't after this trophy to serve as an epenis. This was for me). 

The game has its faults, but I felt like a hero again, not like a pathetic undead. Was it perfect? No. But it made me love the game again. It made me live and breath it again. And I love it. Now kindly join me, as I praise the sun.

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aHolein1   

Elsa   1

Retrofraction   1

Ben Davis   1

PK493   1

Marcel Hoang   1

Scrustle   1

Hyper Lemon Buster Cannon   1