I’ve been making some good strides in games lately. Beating La Mulana’s Hell Temple, 100% Wonderful 101, and making it to New Game+++ in Rogue Legacy to name a few. I’ve rediscovered a love of being challenged by video games and the euphoric sense of accomplishment that comes with beating them. So to make good on my earlier promise to beat my Steam library, and to keep with todays theme I thought I’d revisit my PC version of Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition. Now this won’t be a review of Dark Souls, mind you, because damn Dark Souls has been out so long there isn’t a Slowpoke slow enough to properly show how slow this would be as a review.

I lost track of how many times I died so far which I admit got pretty annoying. Partially because now I can’t sue From Software for false advertisement, they did after all warn me to prepare to die in this edition. And while many deaths were total bullshit and because of the game cheap-shotting me I really felt hard pressed to blame the game like I would elsewhere. The game punishes impatience and wrecklessness both of which are my biggest personal traits. For the most part my deaths were due to my own fault. I think what I liked most was that I never felt too overwhelmed with the game. The inventory was pretty straightforward and easy to understand, something that was a little tougher to figure out in Demon’s Souls. The controls are also pretty straight forward, the game works pretty much the same as Monster Hunter or Dragon’s Dogma, both of which I’m familiar enough with. What I really love though is how even with the low number of moves the game has very few invisible walls, you are almost never prevented from going somewhere and can climb all over the damn place, and often times are supposed to to get stuff. It’s the combination of simple controls and a high degree of freedom to explore that really make the game feel like the modern reincarnation of the NES generation games, especially Castlevania. Strange to think that Dark Souls has out-Castlevania’d the last 3 Castlevania games.

But despite my snarling and gnashing of teeth I really am having fun here. I like the challenge. I think that’s something I’ve forgotten with games as they’ve gotten a bit too easy for the last few years and that doesn’t show much sign of slowing down. Honestly I think I made myself too scared to even try these games for a while, and now that I’m making myself play them I’m discovering that I was the bigger obstacle than anything the games were throwing at me. And the intense feeling of satisfaction when I finally overcame those tough spots. I have to wonder though, where did this fear of being bad at games come from? What made me so afraid of even trying in games that I wouldn’t play them? I really don’t know. Maybe its like junk food where it’ll taste good for a while but if I just keep eating the same stuff it loses its luster. I did that with Cheetos and Ramen in college actually, took months before my digestive tract recovered.

I guess the point I’m trying to make is that we shouldn’t fear difficult games. And not some maso-core test of human tolerance like Super Meat Boy or that Japanese Cat-Mario fan game or I Wanna Be the Guy, granted those games have a certain bent appeal. I mean a game that is hard and tests you in such a way that by the end you are left better, stronger, and maybe even a little smarter. Games can be like a good workout, something that leaves you improved. I don’t think I was feeling improved with the games that held my hand too much. I felt like I was just going through the motions, getting my achievements or seeing the story. It feels good to enjoy games for being games again.

As of this writing I’ve just made it past the Silver Knight archers in Anor Londo. Those of you who’ve played Dark Souls know which ones I’m talking about. I think I’ll take a break from the game tonight and then get back to it tomorrow. In the mean time the rest of you should also try to beat some games in your Steam Library. We’re only a few months away from the next Steam sale!

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