Dark Souls: Under the Spotlight

There are so many games that are near enough universally adored, but are they all as perfect as we like to believe, or are we just peering through overly rose tinted glasses? The goal of Brilliantly Flawed is to expose games we all know and love for what they really are: very well made and enjoyable, but by no means perfect. Watch as childhood memories are shattered and objections are shouted. This week we take a look at FromSoftware’s notoriously difficult action RPG sequel, Dark Souls.

[Philoctetes]

This is a really nice article. I loved Dark Souls and it was probably my personal GOTY for 2011, but the author is right that it could have been improved in a few areas. The framerate in Blightown didn't bother me that much, but the PvP system was a big step down from Demon's Souls.

One other point that the author left out is that elemental weapons are hands-down the best weapons until you're character is leveled up to some ungodly high level. Demon's Souls allowed for a broader variety of viable builds, whereas most of Dark Souls is about maxing out the stamina bar, getting a lighting weapon +5, and then just boosting hps.

[grahf]

Agree with the balancing aspect. My lv 2 Darkwraith can output almost the same damage-per-hit as my Lv 130 GS of Artorias wielding tank. Something needs to be done about that next time around.