Why Dark Souls Is True Horror

On the subject of fear, Dark Souls is a rare breed. It does what nearly any horror game is incapable of doing (even the greatest of the genre). It stays with you. It haunts you. It puts you in a panic long before and long after you play the game. There is a persistent dread that goes along with playing Dark Souls, one that far too many horror games try to emulate with typical horror tropes and stereotypical set pieces.

[admiralvic]

Does anyone really think the Soul's series haunts them? I don't have vivid flashbacks of the Penetrator killing me, I just sort of remember a medievally game that was tedious in some ways, but people choose to call hard.

[LAWSON72]

The game is not hard it is just not mindless and you have to use a thing called a brain. I agree though I have jumped a couple times but it does not haunt me, though I do remember the immersion which made fear what was around the corner of uncharted areas, mainly because my bad luck made me paranoid.

[admiralvic]

"do remember the immersion which made fear what was around the corner of uncharted areas, mainly because my bad luck made me paranoid."

Well, a lot of this links to the fact you got a hefty penalty for screwing up. Progress, cash, equipment damage / wear, decreased item count, possible shift in WT, etc. There was a lot to lose by screwing up, which made you "fear" the outcome and become paranoid. In that sense it is very suspenseful, but nothing about it was really relates to horror.

[WillGuitarGuy]

I wouldn't categorize Dark Souls in the Horror genre at all. The art style is dark, but haunting? No way. The same goes for Demon's Souls.

[Agent2009]

... aka Why This Article Is True Bollocks.

[rageus]

It's definitely a tense game but I wouldn't call is scary.

[CrossingEden]

There's a difference between tense and actual scary. The Shining isn't really scary, it's just really tense. As opposed to something that's actual horror, like The Woman In Black

[Hellsvacancy]

Most of Demon's Souls was pretty scary, more edgy than scary, my first DS playthrough was a cautious playthrough, nearly every step I took was with complete concentration

Dark Souls seemed lacking in that area, I love Dark Souls just as much, it just seemed a little easier, less jump scares

Cant wait for DS2

[SilentSolid]

I LOVE DIZZ GAME! :D

[Gamer-40]

True horror game, Silent Hill 1 (Ps1).

[StockpileTom]

I wouldn't consider it to be horror because it doesn't invoke a sense of helplessness... it is an RPG and because of that you are able to rise up and become more powerful by leveling up... if you were to remove the leveling aspect of it and make the player be stuck with starting class stats then it would possibly feel like a horror game. Also autosaving should be removed to serve as a penalty for death...less bonfires too as savepoints.

[TheGrimReaper0011]

I wouldn't call it horror, rather a heavy consequence game
An HCG if you will
People usually say they die a lot, but let's be honest, that's not it. Dieing just has heavy consequences
Can't wait for Dark Souls 2

[PlayStationdominance]

It's tense for sure.

Horror? No.

Alien: Isolation looks good though. Hope Creative Assembly do a good job with it.

[Master-H]

The only truly scary moment in Dark Souls i believe is when you first pop open a mimic without knowing about it, especially if you're playing in the dark..

[theshredded]

Oh dear god,I remember the smough and dragonslayer duo so many deaths!It was pretty scary and creepy at times(the egg on back of humans,the huge things u encounter in A lava place,those squid thingies,skeletons were annoying,the first time i saw the headless demon crawler...).The atmosphere is that good in the game

[Grave]

My first encounter with the Capra Demon when I had around 25,000 souls on me and thought I was just going through another door like in the Undead Parish. Still gives me nightmares.

[LAWSON72]

I had a similar encounter but mine is with the giant in the lava that attacks you after grabbing the armor in the lava pit area and he made me lose 36000 souls :(

[HmongAmerican]

Day Z and Rust.