210°

9 Things We can Learn about Game Design from Dark Souls

Gamasutra: From Software's Dark Souls has gotten a lot of attention for featuring an extremely high level of difficulty, however it would be unfair to dismiss it as just another masochistic game. In this article, I examine nine areas that Dark Souls excels in and discuss how we can apply those lessons towards improving game design.

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gamasutra.com
ArchangelMike5012d ago

The brilliance of the level design is that(after about 1000 deaths) you think you've reached a dead end area, only to discover that there is a staircase behind a wall leading underground to a whole new unexplored area...

...only to discover assassins who jump on you and cut your thoat in one swipe. Or the goat demon who slices you in half with one hit...

VvKILLAGOOSEvV5012d ago

Hahaha....errr, oh wait, that happened to me as well...
Loving this game, even though its more punishing than being forced to listen to Justin Beiber while watching Keeping up with the Kardashians.

dc15012d ago

Loving Darks Souls just like I loved the first.

colonel1795012d ago

I want to learn how am I supposed to level up if I always die and never get my souls back? This game is sadistic. I was doing great, then I encountered a knight which killed me, and I couldn't get my souls back because he killed me again. That's my story in Dark Souls, I want to cry! I can't level up because of that, and I fee stuck among much powerful enemies turning me into omelet.

The worst part is that I used the few souls I had to level up something I didn't want! :(

limewax5012d ago

The answer to that is to go back to something you actually can kill, level up, then fight the stronger enemies. Some enemies in this game will be stupidly powerful, But you don't go for them until you are ready.

Also timing is key in the combat, Knowing when to block/roll and when to attack is the real key between victory and failure on almost any enemy

colonel1795012d ago

Noob question: Can you roll sideways to evade? I use block A LOT, and I am getting used to parry, but sometimes I wish I could roll sideways, but I don't know how, or if possible.

Captain Qwark 95012d ago

honestly the first few hours are the hardest then it gets easier then it gets stupidly hard, now im waiting for it to get easier???? :/ im 30hrs in level 51, just started anor londo.....

still its one of the best games i have played in a very long time and like the article says, level design is possibly the best i have ever seen, best for me since halo 2's mp maps. ( dont know who the hell did halo 3's :( ) and the enemy vareity is amazing that is always a huge complaint of mine and why i cant sit through cod or battlefield campaigns, or why i didnt finish deux ex, killing the same thing over and over again is lame.....

ThanatosDMC5012d ago

Dont bother leveling up past 28. If you're specializing your character with a certain build or weapon. You should have no problem beating all the enemies in the game including player phantoms. I'm doing 600+ dmg with my longsword with a backstab. I built a douchey character that kills newbies and their summons.

The only PvP players i've had trouble with are the Assassin build with their over powered one hit stab kill daggers.

limewax5011d ago

Yeah, just hit the roll button as you move the stick sideways. If it's not working it is likely due to being slightly off on your timing. Just practice it for a couple minutes then head in to use it in battle.

See the thing with this game is all your power is learned in your own skill to play, and levelling will only get you so far. Keep at it and in no time you will be tearing through enemies

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JsonHenry5012d ago

The only thing I wish would change about Dark Souls is making PvP or co-op easier. I hate the fact you gotta go farm humanity from rats and the like if you want help from other people who are waiting around to help you.

HINDERIZATION5012d ago (Edited 5012d ago )

I'm in the Darkroot Forest and I'm working on beating the Hydra. Kinda hard when there's nobody there to pick up your soul sign...
Do more people play Dark Souls on Xbox or PS3 because I'm playing it on my friend's 360 and I don't see too many people on. I see a few people on at noon and I'll get into a party or two but not really.
But nevertheless, The worlds are very beautiful in the game. So much more to explore.

geddesmond5012d ago

I agree with nearly everything in the article except for the conclusion. Dark Souls is a perfect game to me. I've no gripes with the game what so ever. I just went through the painting in Anor Landos and the scenery in this game just keeps changing everywhere you go.

I guess you need to play Demon Souls to really appreciate what From software did with this game. I never thought Dark Souls would be better than Demon Souls but it is. As for losing souls. It never pisses me off. Simply because I know Dark Souls is designed around completing the game over and over in new game plus. Yeah first playthrough you'll be around lvl 60 but on second Playthrough you get more souls per enemy defeated and it keeps everything fresh.

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140°

50 Best PS3 Games of All Time

The PlayStation 3 is Sony’s most interesting home console ever, but what’s most interesting of all is trying to nail down the very best games on a console with hundreds of incredible games. Let’s give it a shot.

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culturedvultures.com
darthv72120d ago

Personally, I'd rank Pacific Rift in my top 10. It's the best of the series.

badz149120d ago

We desperately need Motorstorm back. Evolution is no more though and this makes me sad

Cacabunga120d ago

Sly Thieves in Time
Stay the Party
Portal 2
Dj Hero
Demon’s Souls
God of war Ascension

rudero120d ago

2 of those games got railed through the “gaming media” during release.
Sly and god of war.
Both of which were fantastic games.

Cacabunga119d ago

Ascension is VERY underrated. Remake please!

Venoxn4g120d ago

Decent list.. I would put the Castle Crashers as well..

1Victor120d ago

Yes it’s a decent list of popular games with a heavy hand on FPS and no Warhawk or Starhawk 2 of the best games (not sale wise) on ps3.
I would buy a Starhawk again even if it didn’t have a graphics upgrade hell I would even take a new one with micro transactions 😱🤯

Profchaos120d ago

I've noticed a recent nostalgia for the PS3 and I don't get it for me it's been my least favourite generation to date and I've been gaming since the NES I just feel like the ambition of the developers outweighed the capabilities of the consoles so I remember lots of games running in the lower end of 20fps range and I remember for the first time ever actually disliking the duelshock 3 and it's curved triggers

Sure there were some standouts and great games but that's the only gen I switched entirely to PC gaming

darthv72120d ago

Maybe the recent nostalgia is because pretty much all of its games are trapped on that console. People want to play them on more modern hardware. hell... if XB can do it then so can Sony. there are competent emulators out there that can run on PS4/5 hardware but Sony just wont let them become official... why is that?

If we are talking least favorite generations (personally) then this one is certainly mine. i had more fun playing 8th, 7th and 6th gen stuff than 9th. And it isnt like i dont have access to do so... the heavy hitters just havent shown up anywhere close to those previous gens. The few here and there just doesnt cut it compared to the likes of constant good games that showed up in 6th, 7th and 8th gen. hell.... I'll even throw in 5th gen has been better than this one.

Profchaos120d ago

I tend to agree there's lots of amazing games locked to the PS3 like GTA IV or mgs 4 but then again my issue was never with the content the PS3 had but rather it's performance many other people have said the PS3 felt like it couldn't walk and chew bubblegum at the same time using PSN and downloading a game could take a few minutes to just start a download.

I typically don't worry all that much about performance I've never had a problem with games that run at 30 but games like crysis 2, Skyrim are good examples where the performance was so unstable you would never even touch the top of the frame cap and the hitching was worse than say Goldeneye on the n64

I think emulation is more than possible on the ps5 though it's just that Sony has no incentive to rush it's development it will likely be a ps6 feature if it ever happens at all.

But yeah the 9th gen has been so bad from a content perspective thats a given I see constant articles where people are frequently expressing their disappointment around the industry as a whole right now to much live service competition that sinks longstanding studios and consumes Devs time less ambition and games cost so much to make they have to play it safe.

The 5th gen was easily better than the 9th we had some all time greats crash, Spyro, Tony hawk, mgs, Mario,64, Goldeneye, Mario kart 64 the list goes on. The 5th gave us a new dimension and I remember being blown away by how much more open gaming had become the 4th gen with the mega drive and SNES was great and very easy to still revisit some of the greatest games of all time came out like earthbound, secret of mana, sonic , Mario world etc but saving our games was still not a standard function or a given so gaming was still evolving but it was very impressive to see some of the tricks Devs used like dithering to give us new experiences those earlier gens limitations bred innovation.

Michiel1989120d ago

if XB can do it so can sony? I didn't know xbox had a cell processor in their older consoles, that's the reason why ps3 was so cool, but also the reason why games are hostage there and no, xbox did nothing similar even though their backward compatbility is good, they always had a similar architecture to their consoles.

darthv72119d ago

Sorry Michael... I guess you missed the obvious part where i said there are already emulators out that do this. and that is what XB is doing... emulators for OG and 360 games. Its why the full slate is not BC on XBO/Series.

coolbeans120d ago (Edited 120d ago )

The list is missing Folklore.

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370°

FromSoftware didn’t want Sony to publish Dark Souls due to how Demon’s Souls was treated

Former SIE president Yoshida explained that Sony wanted to work on the sequel to Demon’s Souls with FromSoftware, but the developer turned it down and instead decided to work with Bandai Namco on what would become Dark Souls.

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videogameschronicle.com
Luc20131d ago

Not sure what Sony was thinking. Wrong people testing the game. It was my favourite game from the PS3 days. Had to import it from Canada because it wasn't available in Europe at the time. Then I bought it again when a local version was available. It was fun to play online and get two separate platinum.

Cacabunga131d ago

I understand, sony acting so cocky when it came out. But they quickly realized what they were missing on. I remember an interview of Yoshida saying clearly he hated the game.

SDuck131d ago

"But they quickly realized what they were missing on."
So they've been sleeping on Bloodborne too

RaiderNation131d ago (Edited 131d ago )

Sony didn't realize what they had with Demons Souls. It happens. Marvel approached Xbox to make Spider-Man before they went to Sony and Phil Spencer said "thanks but no thanks". You win some, you lose some. Personally I wasn't THAT bowled over by Demons Souls either when it launched on PS3. I thought it was slow and clunky. The remake on PS5, however, is fantastic! So I get why Sony was lukewarm on the franchise. I dont know if anybody could've foreseen what From Software would eventually become.

Palitera131d ago

To be fair, not even From Software knew the huge success it would become. Their revenue target was tiny, as already confirmed by Miyazaki.

LoveSpuds131d ago (Edited 131d ago )

Exactly, these nipple head 'journalists' trying to spin this into a story to wield against Sony are ignoring the fact that hindsight is 20/20.

As you correctly point out, Demons Souls was incredibly niche at the time so it's not a surprise that Sony were cautious about investing huge amounts into advertising and support etc.

Pyrofire95131d ago

You can't just find the RIGHT people. This kind of thing didn't exist yet. FROMSOFTWARE started something huge and you could never see it unless you happen to get someone who not only gets a gut instinct but also the will and authority to act on it. You can't look back from 2025, you have to see it in a 2009 landscape. And Demon's Souls didn't even hit big, it wasn't until Dark Souls that it all started hitting, shortly after it's release in 2011.

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GamingSinceForever131d ago

Hey sometimes you just can’t see the potential.

It’s like the Chicago Bears moving up in the draft to take Trubisky over Pat Mahomes.

Pyrofire95131d ago

I don't know one ounce of these sports teams, but yes, exactly like that.

131d ago Replies(2)
jznrpg131d ago

I bought the Japanese version of Demons Souls before US release. Me and my friend heard about it from an online friend in Japan. It took a while for it to become popular in the US. It was a new IP with nothing like it at the time and it wasn’t easy to play obviously. Eventually word of mouth spread about it and sales picked up after launch. I don’t think anyone could have seen how big it would be at the time. It was considered very niche and hardcore games were minimal.

Scissorman131d ago

I do wonder if we'll ever see Demon's Souls 2. Sony clearly wanted it. FromSoftware's subsequent releases penetrated the mainstream in ways the developer likely never imagined. Any stigma or negative perception around the original game's release has long passed. Bluepoint's remake sold very well on PS5. I think the time has come to visit the IP that started it all.

ocelot07131d ago

With Sony now firmly in bed with Kadokawa now. I think a Demon's Souls 2 and/or Bloodborne 2 is fairly likely.

Pyrofire95131d ago

They also seem to not want to get on Fromsoft's bad side or undercut them in any way. I think it's completely up to FS. (which is kinda funny cause FS themselves makes weird moves with their games whenever it's not Miyazaki helming the project. ie DS2 and Nightreign)

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130°

30 Years Ago, Elden Ring And Dark Souls Dev FromSoftware Released Its "Mind-Boggling" Debut

Today marks the 30th birthday of King's Field, a PlayStation title with an incredible legacy – and one which some Western players might be unaware of.

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timeextension.com
Pedantic91196d ago

If only they would remake or make a sequel to shadow tower abyss.

Babadook7196d ago

I remember. It showed potential for a new type of action RPG.

Loktai196d ago (Edited 196d ago )

I still have my original release PS1 long box King's Field right here on my shelf. Great game., Looks better on a CRT than you can really appreciate in emulators or screenshots too, or Im just nostalgic. Note: actually it would be kings field 2 in japan but released here as kings field, so I guess its the second game. Great none the less.

gold_drake195d ago

i recently played it, its pretty good

Grilla195d ago (Edited 195d ago )

It was great. I always wondered what happened to the series/developer. Wasn’t til a few years ago I found out they moved on to the souls games. It’s nice to see them get the appreciation they deserve.

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