Pixel Sundays: Dark Souls – Comprehensive Analysis of the Global Phenomenon
The Dark Souls series should be known to most of you. These are relatively challenging games that we want to talk about today.
Summary
- The origin of the Dark Souls phenomenon
- Revolutionary game mechanics
- The influence on the video game industry
- The community and culture around Dark Souls
- Conclusion
This week in our Pixel Sundays article, we talk about the Dark Souls franchise. You will discover how the game was developed under the direction of Hidetaka Miyazaki and, of course, learn all about its gameplay.
The origin of the Dark Souls phenomenon
The origin of the Dark Souls series lies, of course, with its creator Hidetaka Miyazaki and the studio FromSoftware, which developed the games. This is also the point where we want to start today.
Hidetaka Miyazaki was born on September 19, 1974, and grew up in Shizuoka, Japan. At Keio University, he earned a degree in Social Sciences and initially worked as an account manager at Oracle. When Miyazaki was 29 years old, he decided he wanted to develop video games. This happened because he played the game Ico (2001) and thought, “This is what I want to do.” Shortly after, in 2004, he found a position at FromSoftware as a game planner. There, he initially worked on titles like Armored Core: Last Raven and later even took over the direction of Armored Core 4 and its sequel.
But then Hidetaka Miyazaki took over the direction of a stagnant project: Demon’s Souls. This game became a great success and laid the foundation for the Dark Souls games. In 2011, the first part of Dark Souls was released, considered the spiritual successor to Demon’s Souls, and it became an extreme success. It was so successful that it created an entirely new genre: Souls-like games. The concept was quite simple: challenging combat and a deep world design.
Miyazaki’s game design is particularly characterized by his sense of aesthetics in the game and the integration of death and life. The worlds are full of death and destruction, but they still tell a story with a lot of room for personal interpretation. Dialogues with the few characters provide a little more information, but many questions remain unanswered and must be solved by oneself.
Initially, players were quite skeptical about the game. For many, it was too difficult on their first try. But skepticism quickly turned into recognition. Everyone wanted to succeed, and thus the game became popular and successful. This led to the following sequels in the subsequent years: Dark Souls II (2012) and Dark Souls III (2016). FromSoftware then developed other well-known and successful Souls-like games such as Bloodborne and Elden Ring, but today we will not talk about those games.
Revolutionary game mechanics in Dark Souls
Probably the most important thing about Dark Souls is not the world or the story – No, it is the extraordinary game mechanics. The game is significantly more difficult than most normal games. Every fight can be deadly, and boss fights can drive you to despair. Unfortunately, there are no official statistics on how many controllers have been destroyed by frustration in Souls games, but it must be quite a few. There is nothing more annoying than fighting a boss for hours, having it at low health, and then dying again.
The difficulty of the game is accompanied by a central truth. You are immortal and have infinite attempts. Of course, the bosses are all stronger than you. But you can learn. You can memorize the enemy’s combos and dodge everything. They cannot do that, and once you realize this, you know that you can finish the game, even if it might take a bit longer. Every mistake is harshly punished in the game; you die, lose your souls, and the worst: you have to walk back to the boss. This motivates you to achieve it more and more because you simply don’t want to repeat the path again.
In the game, of course, you can also become stronger. By defeating enemies, you earn souls, which you can use to increase your level. You can improve stats like dexterity, strength, health, stamina, magic, and more, making you a bit stronger. You can also upgrade your weapons with the help of smithing stones. This increases the damage you do and makes fights easier.
But the world of Souls games is also impressive. Everything is connected without loading screens. There are different areas with different types of enemies, but everything is in a not overly large space. Some bosses end an area, and others open up new ones when defeated. Exploring the world is always fun because there is so much to discover. In many places, there are rewards or other items to loot, which makes exploring doubly worthwhile.
The multiplayer system is also unique in the game. In single-player mode, you can find notes from other players everywhere. These can give you helpful tips or completely troll you. We all know how gamers are. There is no true cooperative multiplayer, but you can summon allies who help you in boss fights, etc. However, they disappear again after the boss fights, so a complete cooperative mode is not possible.
There are also some PvP arenas in the games. There, you can fight against other players and see how good you are. But don’t get discouraged, because many of the players who play PvP have been doing it for a long time and are really good. However, fighting against a friend is a lot of fun.
The games even have a story, but it is not easy to follow or always understand it. For this reason, there are many videos or posts on YouTube that introduce you to the story. There you are told when to go to which place to understand the story in chronological order.
The influence on the video game industry
Since the release of Dark Souls in 2011, much has changed in the gaming industry because of this game. The game completely redefined the action RPG genre, giving rise to the “Souls-like” subgenre. These are games with very challenging gameplay and a deep combat system, where in many cases, you can level up using souls or another resource.
It also changed the perception of difficulty and storytelling in video games. Before, it was not normal to die more than 100 times in a game, and not just against bosses. It was unclear whether this demanding gameplay and a not strongly developed story would be successful. But people love it, and for this reason, there have been many Souls-like games on the market since then.
The asynchronous multiplayer design with notes has also influenced other games. One of the best examples is Death Stranding. There, too, there are notes from other players on the ground without you playing directly with them. More on this topic and the game in our Pixel Sundays article on Death Stranding.
The community and culture around Dark Souls
Dark Souls lives, like all games, thanks to its community. There are thousands of players who play the games daily, and over time, everyone becomes increasingly creative. There are speedruns, God Runs, challenges, and much more that players constantly try to achieve.
In speedruns, you try to complete the games as quickly as possible. But God Runs are another level. You try to complete all Souls games quickly and without taking a single hit. Once you take damage, you have to start over.
Souls games are also very popular among streamers and YouTubers and are constantly used for challenges. But it’s not just challenges like playing the game without taking damage. Players become more creative and play the game with dance mats, the piano, on two devices simultaneously with a dance mat and controller, and much more.
Of course, many guides have also been created, showing new players paths or giving tips, as the world is often very intricate, and it’s not always clear where to go. Overall, the Souls community is very active and enjoys sharing their unique experiences in the game.
Conclusion
Dark Souls is more than just a video game. It is a game that changed the future of gaming. We don’t know what would have happened if Hidetaka Miyazaki had not changed careers or if he had not played Ico. But many coincidences led to Dark Souls becoming what it is: a challenging yet beautiful game. The game that initiated the era of Souls-like games.
The unique and seamless level design inspired many others to create something similar. A world where there is much to discover, and even in a not overly large space, there are still the most diverse areas. Also, the multiplayer, which is not much, could influence other games like Death Stranding.
But even in this game, without the great community, everything would have been different. Over the years, we have seen new challenges, funny videos, and much more. This brought many new players to the games, and they started to love the genre.
If you now feel like playing one of the Dark Souls games or other Souls-like games, you should visit AllKeyShop. AllKeyShop compares the prices of over 60 verified retailers for you and can always show you the best price for video games. Additionally, there are exclusive discount codes and a price history so that you can see if it’s worth waiting a little longer. So I wish you much success in saving money and not too much despair while playing!
Hey, I’m Kilian, but online you’ll probably know me as “Tux1243.” I've been part of the team for almost two years now, always trying to keep you in the loop with the latest and coolest gaming news. I also have a huge passion for doing deep dives and detailed analyses of entire game series and franchises. I love getting to the bottom of things and exploring the little details and backstories that make game worlds so fascinating.
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