As someone who has never played Dark Souls but does work in a virology lab, I'm pretty sure I have an idea of what an STD bomb is

I wish we got a more finished version of the second half with the remaster, Izalith is such a drag...

DS1 will always be my favorite of the three Dark Souls games. Compared to Demons Souls, where in all the levels are instanced behind loading screens, DS1 made the world feel alive with its minimal loading screens between areas giving it an almost open world adventure like quality.

Capra demon didn’t teach me to use a shield, it taught me to use the environment to my advantage and also change my play style to adapt to changing situations. I actually ended up using a pole arm or spear to quickly dispatch the dogs, and the stairs to reposition go for a plunging attack and give yourself a breather

In my first playthrough, I saw the concept of "going hollow" and I think that is what kept me going. It was like the game was telling me that if you quit, which you should, you will go hollow, means your character goes insane. And so is the fate of all players who do not complete the game. I thought the concept was literally the game challenging you to endure the madness as your character endures going hollow.

This reminded me of one of my first experiences in dark souls, I just got to firelink shrine and was running up the steps to the sewer and got invaded, I didn't know what that meant at first but they dropped an armour set for me so I threw it on, it was the stone armour set and my character could barely move! They then killed me. Was really funny in hindsight but at the time it was super confusing

I am 100% up for this mini-series/series where despite liking something, you still critice it's bad parts. there isn't that much of that content on YT and you know that when a good game fucks up something, it is really something to look out for and something the best of best still managed to somehow commit. Never stop evolving, your content is freaking amazing.

the way this map connects to itself is honestly insane, when i first played and defeated capri demon and unlocked that gate which lead right back to the shrine i was like huh i felt like id been pushing through the map for ages just to open one door and be back at the start, unlocking the lift was something else entirely lol the map design is just perfect

Back when I bought this during my teen, I baby raged for 3 days thinking you were supposed to kill the Stray Demon with the broken sword, I got so fed up that I was gonna return the game but then I was just running around the boss until I saw the red door you were supposed to go in and I was laughing at myself for being a doof

notbing will ever match the feeling of realizing it is all connected when you unlock the elevator on the parish. that was a jaw dropping moment

The DLC wasn’t “found” by any players, fromsoft released a guide online both in Japanese and English when the dlc released detailing exactly how to access the dlc with pictures of the locations, crystal golems, and items needed. These guides can still be accessed on the way back machine as far as I’m aware

Honestly the best thing for a new dark souls player, are challange runs like yours as they gradualy explain new things and shows you playstyles you can try, it certainley helped me

Dark Souls inventory menu is truly the Dark Souls of UI design

My first experience with the game was going down the graveyard first from firelink. Got absolutley stomped over and over while thinking "wow, that game really is hard and unforgiving" Fun times

Hearing "Sen's Fortress hidden bonfire" my ears perked up immediately, THANK YOU. But seriously, this video really resonated with me as I'm new to RPGs in general and I felt exactly how you described. I'm still learning basic mechanics and grinding through the game, yet I already love it.

Genuinely love this content. The video made me laugh so much as my experience playing the game for the first time was exactly this and watching my friends play more recently it is just comical how accurate your description of things is. I also love that you explain how the flaws and the struggle of the game lead you toward your love of it. I had the exact same experience and now the Souls series is one of my favorite. Even if it is one of the only series that makes me want to throw my computer out a window at times.

I could see how the crestfallen warrior telling you there's 2 bells could be confusing, but I always loved that from a lore stand point. The very first person you talk to tells you of an old adage of his family, but the very next person you talk to tells you that's a lie. The game is telling you up front that people and the stories they tell could be misleading, or just straight up lies. So when you finally meet kaath and he tells you that EVERYTHING was a lie, it just hits so much harder

I feel all that confusion and difficulty with things but finally understanding and conquering it is what leads to people finding it emotionally satisfying and gratifying.

16:08 Why isnt anyone talking about him murdering Solaire the Sunbro!!!!????

I know I’m late to the party, but only just came up in my feed. I love the breakdowns. Most other breakdowns that other creators do turn into a bit of a rant on only good or only bad, so this is great

in my first dark soul play-through, I thought I had to kill the stray demon with the broken straight sword and the "get away" message was just some kind of narrative or expression and because people keep saying dark souls is extremely hard and all, I honestly thought I was playing as intended(glad I found the door eventually)

The convoluted inventory layout and stat explanations is the biggest point you made imho. Regarding the DLC, to me stuff like that is insanely cool. The first time I stumbled upon Ash Lake, blind, I was speechless. Same thing with the Painted World. Nothing except my very first Elden Ring playthrough has ever given me anything CLOSE to that experience since. It was magical.

This was a brilliant breakdown of what makes Dark Souls so endearing once it clicks. Thanks for sharing. The last few sentences gave me goosebumps.

I avoided this video for the longest time because it's not what I'm used to but now that I finally watched it I want more, I want so much more. This was amazing and you should continue... Please

Still think DS1 has the best level/world design of any modern From game. So good at hiding the true scale of the game from you, making every shortcut and hidden area feel so revelatory and special. With the demand to make every game "bigger", not sure we'll ever get that again.

I'm glad to know that playing the game, quitting, and coming back 8 months later is a universal experience. I am also impressed that you got to the capra demon before throwing in the towel. I didn't make it past the asylum, but thats mostly because I never actually turned around and saw the hole in the wall to Oscar, as well as I Couldn't find the key to the other 2F door. The one you find much much /much/ later and figured my game was broken...

That ending speech was absolutly amazing. The subtle DS 1 music in the background and long pauses between some words. Good job man. You've really upped your word game. Hands down

personally i love having to check wikis to learn about a game and its mechanics, it smh makes me feel more attached and invested but i can def see why someone could hate that. I also get the feeling that the devs were not afraid of you missing stuff they put a lot of care into, just because that was their vision and they decided to go by it, and in a present were all AAA games are obsessed with showing you how big they are and how many missions and content you have to "enjoy" that's a big flex

I discovered Dark Souls 1 when it was free on game pass, and me and my brother decided to play it together. We made it too the Blacksmiths bonfire before the Bell Gargoyals where we got invaded by a played Who dropped us full stacks of Hero Souls. If I'm being honest, that boost is very possibly the only reason I stuck with the game, and have eagerly awaited every soulsborn games since then. Love the series

TerraMantis and DaveControl are the forgotten OGs. They definitely were my fave lore youtubers and I miss them. 😢

There is one crucial aspect that From fans don't seem to realize about why people bounce off these games or "don't get it". Namely... this immense sense of satisfaction or achievement after struggling through a really rough video game challenge - the average person _doesn't get_ it to that vast extent _from a video game._ It's a specific niche appeal, it always was. They don't enjoy the extent of the struggle because they don't feel rewarded to that extent - and therefore, quit.

This is a perfect essay on why it's so wonderful. I think that it's much better for a game to not be for everyone, but complete its purpose perfectly. That's why Dark Souls is as perfect of a series as it is. No compromises in artistic and mechanical goals.

Finally someone who brought both ends of the spectrum together and showing what the game really feels like!

The Dark Souls effect is one of the best things I’ve ever experienced in a game. In suffering do we find the strength to endure and find victory.

Great vid. Honestly further deepened my love for a title Ive already been in love with for a decade!❤

I really believe that despite all of the confusion on a first playthrough, it’s a large part in what makes the experience so special. It gives you an incredible sense of progression near the end when you’ve got it all figured out. As you stated near the beginning, things just begin to click into place. No other game has ever taught me how to play like a fromsoft game, it’s an irreplaceable experience you will find nowhere else. Handholding is so prevalent in modern games that fromsoft titles become a breath of fresh air in contrast. The game treats you like an adult with the capacity to understand and learn through trial and error. I appreciate the game so much more for this. I don’t have nostalgia for this game either, I’m not blinded by rose tinted glasses. I played this game but a few years ago and it still withstands the test of time in my eyes.

With all its flaws, playing Dark souls for the first time as a 14 year old back in 2012 was the single most cathartic experience I ever had with a game. As a 25 year old now, I am still chasing that high, and coming to grips with the fact that those core memories will be only that, memories. Dark souls is not just a game.

Then there is me. Almost everything that was brought up as an issue in this video is exactly what drew me into Dark Souls. The unforgiving combat. The obtuse mechanics and systens. The barely existing tutorial for it all. ALL of which immersed me like nothing before. I had found Dark Souls at the perfect time. As someone who had played a lot of AAA action games at the time, I had become completely disillusioned by videogames. I felt they just became more hand-holdy and mind-numbing one after the other. The dumbing down of mechanics and difficulty in the gaming landscape had really made me sick of most games that came out. I knew exactly what to expect from them before they even came out. Having just come off whatever the latest Assassin's Creed game was at the time, I was looking for something different. Way different. And that's when I heard of Dark Souls. It was explained as this brutally difficult, completely unforgiving game. No handholding. No safety rails. It was you vs the game. This 'Dark Souls' would dare you to figure it out yourself and then kick you down for trying. And oh boy. I. Was. SOLD! When I first picked up the game I got my world absolutely rocked. I sucked so bad and even died several times to the tutorial boss, Asylum Demon. Not to speak of the countless times I had to try to beat the Taurus Demon. But despite constant setbacks, I had never been more immersed by a game. It felt like every time I had finally learned to tackle one thing the game had thrown at me, it threw another two. I had to give the game my full attention to progress. Closely go through everything to understand the systems. It was overwhelming, to say the least. But in a good way. It was more than I could have ever hoped for! "The game hates me. And I LOVE it for it" - something I said back then when friends asked me to explain it. I still remember laughing at the time I had just come away from defeating hordes of undead, demons and two fire breathing gargoyles - only to get one shot by a walking mushroom of all things. I LOVED it. I am that one guy who's almost disappointed the games became more streamlined and straight-forward. Because all of the obtuseness was a big part of what made me fall in love with Dark Souls in the first place.

I bought the game two days ago. Im close to 23 years of age and knew of it only through internet culture. When I was 6 years old I played my first ever game, that being Pokemon and until the last generation I played every game multiple times. The past years I always had to self impose rules to make these games harder, but it seemed worth it since the premise is so enticing to me. When I started dark souls I knew the game is supposed to be hard and oh boy it delivered on that notion. I felt and still feel lost but I love it, makes me feel like I’m back in my childhood, just with a bit more brutal game aesthetics. Being overwhelmed by everything just makes me want to not be overwhelmed anymore, overcoming my noobness and fight through it. Dark souls makes you aware of your skill issues, it humbles you, overcome it or quit. I can’t wait to submerge into all of this even further, see the „you died“ screen so much more often, knowing I will overcome it one day. This game is amazing and even if I only played it for two days I feel confident to say that this franchise as a whole will become to my adulthood what pokemon has been for my childhood and adolescence.

I think a lot of the problems you described are the reason it created such an amazing community. I remember when I got to a or Londo and was completely lost. My brother in law told me about the way upto the broken window and we also had different stories with kaarth and frampt. Another mate taught me about the great hollo. I found out how to get back to the asylum by myself. Those are the things that made the games great for me.

I'll never forget trying to traverse the Tomb of Giants for the first time. Spending hours and hours fumbling through the dark, trying to memorize enemy locations and feel my way through, having no idea that you could bring a light source with you

This video was genuinely beautiful and heart warming. This is the best video for emphasizing with players who started with Dark Souls as the first Fromsoft game. You captured so many feelings and experiences most of us went through and it reminds me how connected and loving this community can be. Thank you

You accurately recreated my first reaction to everything in the game. This is amazing.

Played the game for the first time this year and you perfectly summarize the experience of a beginner! And I‘m so happy that I didn‘t quit and feel the same way as you said in the end.

When I first played this game I ended up fighting skeletons for two hours before I found out where I was supposed to go, but fighting skeletons at level one taught me how to get the parry timing down, how to roll better to avoid their attacks and how to bait enemies

There is no “game over” in Dark Souls, only the “you died” banner. The game daring you to quit, is part of the lore. All of the NPCs who go hollow have lost purpose and direction and given up. Rage quitting is part of the game and the lore. Quitting and deleting your character is how you go hollow and achieve a game over…

❤oh. Amd I got to say, the way you have spoken the feel of DS was what helped me realize why I hadn't quit the madness. Even why I have come to love it. Thanks.

i remember the feeling when i first got past the anor londor archers to the bonfire and seeing solaire sitting there...great memories!!

Worth noting that a lot of problems in this video used to be solved through a medium known as "the instruction manual", an item that had evaporated around the time Dark Souls released. If Dark Souls had released in the 90's or early 00's, it would have come with a thick manual explaining every facet of the game's ui and terminology, descriptions of weapons, enemies, and allies, plus additional story details, lots of illustrative screenshots and concept art littering the pages, and might even be printed in full color.

I like the DLC Unlock sequence in this game. When I got to the archives, got the broken pendant, read the description, and saw it said Oolacile, I was immediately like "Hey, Dusk is from Oolacile, cause she constantly mentions it. I wonder what she has to say about this." So I immediately left, went to the lake, couldn't find her summon sign, went down the path where you first find her, and the first thing I noticed was her armor set on a corpse. So I was all "Oh no, she's dead." Only after that I noticed the spooky portal, and after being dragged into the DLC I concluded I needed to beat it to change the past and save Dusk. And I also assumed that I couldn't leave until I won, so I went through a bunch of it before I realized warping at the bonfires would bring me to the regular game.

Great video, explains very well the frustration & the beauty of this epic game!

The ironic thing is that more people would probably probably get deeper into the game and quit if everything was explained as it should be. Because I’ve seen this video, I now know how to change the screen view and to equip the shield so I’m technically making progress.

Less than a thousand hours in the game yet has dozens of challenge videos that most would never try. You are a legend sir 😮

12:52 Pretty sure the 4-directional roling when locked on is because when you're not locked on, your character is always rolling forward, using the same animation in a different direction. Because lock-on keeps your character always facing the same direction, it has to add left, right, and backwards animations. More directions would mean more work on animations, so it was probably not being able or not wanting to add them.

Man I really love this series and talking deeply about games we love or hate it’s just so good to watch and listen too

As a fellow Souls games enthusiast, this was a truly great video, you gave me chills when you said that line about not wanting the players to go hollow, great stuff and keep up the good work, +1 sub !!!!

Making a video like this for Demon's Souls would be amazing.

9:20 the worst part is, if you use all the items, it means you will end up using a firekeeper soul as well,

I'm looking forward to watch "...about Dark Souls 2". Great video by the way, I played the first time dark souls an about 10 years ago, but it was great and ever since I repeat the process to play Dark Souls, to face the challenges, to remember that sometimes the things will appear impossible to overcome until the day that you overcome it.

Just wanted to say I found you about 2-3 weeks ago and you've been my favorite channel ever since. I don't even play a lot of the games you do but still enjoy every one I've seen so far. You've filled the Mitten Squad sized hole that was left in my heart.

I have a friend who recently went through Dark Souls 1-3 and at first he hated it and was having a horrible time, but similar to what you described he forced himself to push through, even restarted when he realized he had failed a questline, and ended up legitimately enjoying the series (though he still has reservations about the "infinite stamina" mobs in Ds3).

Fantastic video, it's amazing how many people I know don't understand the impulse and importance of criticizing the things we enjoy and I'd love to see more of that from you.

This is such an accurate representation of a new player's first experience! Very well done! One small correction though: The character description for the thief in the character creation actually says "Has master key". So the game basically tells you the thief already has the key. Will a new player recognize and understand this right away? Maybe.. or probably not. Still, the game tells you at least.

I adored this video, I cannot agree more with the mindset of “Nothing is beyond critique. Because good art, literature, or games will always have things that can be improved and communicating that is paramount.”

It’s ok lemon. We’re here.

Loving that Gradius startup sound effect at the beginning of the video. It's been years since I've played that game.

Back in the day, I rented and played Demons souls first, didn't get far maybe halfway. But the realization of running across the bridge to get past the dragon breath is a defining moment in the series for me that I'll never forget. Few years go by, kinda forget about Demons until I see a game at the flea market I thought was Demons souls. Pop it in and it's not the game I remember, but its Dark Souls so its just like it. Struggled to make progress past skele-bones in the graveyard for a few hours, then put the game back in the case. About 4 months later I watch a streamer play, get all the way to the Taurus demon and bait out the plunge attack and realize I need to go play that game again, there's a SECOND path, to go up. Had I never seen that help I would have never put in countless hours into the souls series, or find Monster Hunter (and more countless hours). Truely a flawed masterpiece, so glad I came back and didn't go hollow.

I LOVE these kinds of videos. The stories you weave are already fantastic, so to hear you critique and objectively discuss the merits and flaws of games is an amazing watch, hoping and excited for more!

Lemon's voice is so relaxing and his way of explaining things is so clean, I wouldn't mind more videos like this one, in fact, I would love it

I really like when people put the names of songs they use in the description. I can beat this entire series faster than I can find songs I’ve heard.

I have been playing the Dark Souls Series for a few years, my first souls game was 2, and I've never really been able to explain why I love this game, but you captured it perfectly in this video

I think that the explanation for the new user experience is that this game was kind of like an arg when it came out, the stories of all the forum posts for the pendant and the painted world. I think that the internet was becoming very widely available and some bosses and most gameplay stuff is meant to be fought through as a community.

Darksouls, the only therapy that actively makes you rage

You word for word just explained my whole experience with dark souls 1 now I played the souls games backwards, and that is my fault but I got comfy with the faster movement of the later games, I picked up Ds 1 and hated it but I took a break and I kept coming back and now after finishing my first play through I have a soft spot for it and it's clunkyness and that's why we as a community love dark souls!

loved the style of content!

Absolutely loved the video! Don't get me wrong, I like all the challange runs as well, but getting a teardown of the game that started it all for me was something special. I'd really like to see other videos of this kind on the channel, alongside with the interesting ways you find to go through games

It's real nice to hear someone who adores this game as much as you actually explain and justify why people like myself simply can't get into it. Every time I've gone back to try and "get" DS1 I just never can. Maybe it's the clunky controls, maybe it's how player unfriendly it tends to be, maybe it's because I don't want to have to look things up to just be able to experience it, maybe it's a mix of all of the little problems. But I just never have fun with it. So, for whatever it's worth, thanks for this. It's kinda cathartic to have someone in the community try and keep views on one of their favorite games realistic instead of putting it up on a pedestal.

Damn. Very well put!

Went into this game blind a few years back. Somehow I missed the blacksmith until after I beat the Bell Gargoyles. That was fun.

I totally feel that second playthrough experience. I can't tell you how great I felt when I beat O&S on my first try that time around. One-shotting Manus actually felt a bit embarrassing, to be honest. I can even tell you the exact moment on that second playthrough when everything "clicked." It was against the Bell Gargoyles, and suddenly I could just "see" their attacks in my head and just understood how to dodge everything. I can't say I never died after that, but it was such a different experience.

I've loved it since the moment i started playing The exact amount of difficulty I wanted and the worldbuilding is amazing

I’ve played Elden Ring, Sekiro and DS3 and I’m currently on my first play through of DS1 and it is by far the hardest souls game for me. I’m really really struggling where the other FromSoft games I played I straight breezed through. Even Sekiro’s combat was easier. The catacombs is an absolute nightmare in DS1. The skeletons are ruthless.

dang, this video was spectacular, I loved it!

I started this amazing series back in 2009, a friend told me to free up my schedule and go buy a game called Demon's Souls. All he said was "I won't tell you anything more than the title. If you hate it I will pay you back for the full price." The overwhelming confusion and rage I had surging through me for the first few hours was taunting, but then I beat my first boss. And more was open to me and I kept pushing forward. The one thing every souldborne fan will agree on, "I wish I could experience this fresh one more time..." It may not be for everyone but did you like that vegetable when you were a kid? Maybe try it again, could turn out to be your new favorite thing.

I remember in my first playthrough I wore nothing but heavy armor and did the two weapon slots and a shield thing. It wasn't until well after Ornstein and Smough that I went back to Havel, kicked his ass, got his ring, and... found out there were other types of rolls. Literally played through the first half of the game fat rolling because I thought that's just how it was.

Your closing remarks exactly described my initial dark souls experience. I bought it on release and quit as soon as I reached firelink and got caught up by the Skelton graveyard. Three years later I found the disk in a dresser and tried again, and just kept pushing. Failure after failure leading to success after success. Since then I’ve now platinum trophy’s every FromSoft game. I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything. The feeling of accomplishment after my first time beating a boss that killed me fifty times before is priceless and I’m so grateful these many years later for the opportunity to be a part of such a magical thing.❤❤❤❤

I'm a relatively new player, having only finished my first playthrough a few months ago and throughout my entire playthrough, I only realised near the end how to upgrade my estus flask. The description of the fire keeper souls says use to upgrade estus so... I pressed the use button on them and just absorbed the souls from them. It was a tough playthrough and only before the four kings and Gwyn did I upgrade my flask. It made my time with the game much harder, but I still prevailed and despite the flawed systems of ds1, I loved it. I'll definitely try the sequel sometime

Thank you for being informative while also explaining how hard the player experience can be based on what class they pick and what they know about the game. I often find in some Dark Souls discussions that some people say "This part was easy to understand" while getting caught that the game doesn't explain that to them, while simultaneously admitting they had to look that fact up. Some players are just toxic to the community honestly. And I also quit during Capra demon. Ridiculous boss fight.

The Canon dark ending was insane. I didn't know it existed for years because I never looked it up. Lots of hidden stuff that was a straight up headache but it made this game a gem

You are definitely in need of Hollow Knight content, my man. Beautiful channel here. Can't wait to see what's next

Thinking back to my first ever attempt to play DS1, an attempt that broke me and made me drop it, until friends compelled me to get into DS3 many years later, I still say I think I like how it's designed. It makes no effort to hide the dark fantasy aesthetics. No matter who or what we pick, information is clearly, and in my opinion intentionally, ambiguous. We begin our journey a literal prisoner, a walking pile of beef jerky, and we see we have no obligation to defeat the other entities around us. the distant booming caused by the demon nearby adds to the crushing atmosphere. Before long we have our expectations shattered by the seemingly impossible boss fight right at the start, with no relevant narratives associated with it, and no revelations upon being defeated by it. As a fresh player, I found the control scheme unintuitive, and in retrospect I feel this is natural. I remember getting exhausted with the developer tutorial messages, and refusing to continue reading them all until I had further explored my surroundings, adapted to those controls myself, and gauged the game in front of me for what it was. But I wasn't frustrated by my first loss against the demon. it also felt natural, and it wasn't hard to observe my surroundings and carry on. I can attest to the confusion I first felt in trying to navigate menus after acquiring my starting gear, and this was where I decided I'd continue reading the messages. It wasn't easy, by any means, but I had the time and the means to figure it out, and when I had my things equipped I was content. progressing further, and eager to explore every nook and cranny, I found myself punked by the boulder at the stairs. All of this is what I consider to be a tone setter. They primed my expectations of what this game was meant to convey. Always confusing, always unintuitive, always seemingly insurmountable, always keeping me on my toes, but inevitably able to be overcome. Which I dig. I couldn't figure out parrying, obviously. I didn't pay nearly enough attention to my friend that gave me his estus, and his dying words, not to mention released us from our imprisonment. But with everything sorted, I found the demon fight to be surprisingly doable after coming back around. And I believe I recall wasting time on the balcony, to the point it denied my free attack by flying up to hit me instead. Yet I did not falter. Similarly, I also got bullied by the skeletons in the graveyard near firelink, which was stressful and eventually turned me away. Learning all of the new features, or trying, to learn them was exhausting, so I made note of what they said but thought little of anything beyond levels. And then I found the elevator down. This was what sealed my fate as a first timer, because I was overwhelmed by ghosts I could not fight, lost what little I'd accumulated, went to retrieve it, and subsequently fell down the elevator shaft to my next death. suffice to say I needed a break after all of that, and it was a very long time before I returned, to the point that my next play was on a different platform entirely. But those failings stuck with me, and better prepared me to try again, and even after all the ways the game did me dirty when I was at my most vulnerable, I still came back for more.

During a time when games were becoming more and more "hand holdy" and telling the player where to go exactly with map markers and compass indicators, I remember Dark Souls being a breath of fresh air. Of course don't get me wrong, I too had a similar first time playthrough.

Rarely do I see someone able to put to words a feeling I had that felt so intrinsic that no words I could bring would express them properly, yet here you are, describing *exactly* why Dark Souls is so special to me in a mere 22 minutes. Thank you Lemon, from the bottom of my heart.

You just described my experience, lol. It was only because I used guides that I ever beat this game. Had I done what some people told me and played completely blind, I would never have even gotten past Firelink Shrine.

Very well said! My first playthrough of Dark Souls took me almost a year. A huge journey from clueless noob to beating Gwyn and it was the greatest video game experience of my life.

Always good to see you post

I remember restarting the game a bunch of times with different characters because I sucked and tried to make the game easier for myself but after awhile of doing that I realised I’d accidentally practiced enough to the point where I was decent and more confident to get through it. I played Demons Souls before but all I did was soul arrow and cheese bosses. Dark Souls was the first time I got gud.

it took me 8 years ... of quitting and coming back to the game till i got throught it yesterday ... this video made me feel good after all thx made ... now im a big fan

I mean despite all of these things we all fell in love with the series. When I started with the Souls series in Dark Souls II when I was 10 (I'm in college now) I didn't know anything about the inner workings of the mechanics but the world was so rich and interesting that I stuck with it and learned as I went. In my first playthrough of DS2 I saw that raw increased damage and went with a raw soldiers axe or whatever the whole game. Now I have played every dark souls game, Elden Ring, bloodborne, Demon's Souls, god damn tappy souls or whatever. Point is when a world is so engrossing as dark souls, The inner workings don't need to be all laid out to get sucked into the game. user experience, especially for first timers, could have been fine-tuned, but I feel like that's a very minor aspect blown out of proportion, for example some people don't even look at the screens for weapon stats and stuff until way in the game, so they aren't overloaded with the info they are just playing without that info, which btw, is not the end of the world. When we compound everything it does start to show its failings, but the game got its following somehow right?

It's amazing, just like the undead to Lordran, I find myself being called to the challenge and have recently got back into and decided to finish it finally. It was so satisfying, having mastered the parry to crush Gwyn and lighting my final bonfire, watching the credits in a game never felt so rewarding