Base game - 5/5
Artorias of the Abyss DLC - 5/5
This is a classic. There's not much to say that hasn't already been said over the years - this is one of the greatest games of all time. It's not the most popular title FromSoftware has released, but it is definitely their most defining one - both for the company and the genre.
It has a seamless, very immersive open-world design, and even though this world is not revolutionary in design nor particularly big, they've made such a great metroidvania type interconnected world where you have the freedom of choosing multiple path progressions which in itself drives you to explore the world completely independent of the natural game progression. The only parameter that determines which path you should take is your own skill and knowledge of the game. Levels are designed with a lot of shortcuts and hidden passages to discover which makes multiple repeated visits to the same area fresh and interesting - the levels loop back on each other in ways that in hindsight seem so obvious, yet you somehow never notice it. I mean you always get that jaw drop when you realize that you can go from that Undead Parish elevator back to Firelink Shrine. Then they do it with Darkroot Basin to Valley of the Drakes or the other way to the Valley from the New Londo Ruins once it's drowned. It's just level design at it's best. However, this is partly gone with the Lordvessel. After that, the level design, even though it's still really good, heavily depends on warping between bonfires rather than connecting them like it does in the first half of the game, so it definitely feels a bit rushed. That's why I believe nothing else comes close to the brilliance of the level design in this game prior to Anor Londo.
Even though the camera controls show it's time, combat doesn't. It's still highly impressive and truly brilliant when you come to think of it - they've given you very simple standard RPG stats, but they combined it with mechanics such as poise, critical hit multipliers, staggering effects, different weapon types with one-handed/two-handed stances, magic etc., and on top of that you have great block, parry, dodge and roll mechanics. What you get is a great variety of viable weapons, and combining this with a really good variety of different enemy types, it makes for an immersive experience, but even more important, highly replayable one. Yes, the combat might seem weighty and slow if you're coming back from DS3, or Elden Ring, but this game makes you utilize your critical thinking and mechanical smoothness rather than relying on your memory and rhythm. You WILL certainly eat your mistakes.
This game's reputation is notorious for having a stressful grind with overly-difficult bosses, but I would say that the truth is far from that. All bosses have their strengths and weaknesses, they all give you opportunities to capitalize on damage or avoid unnecessary damage, and it's up you to learn and master these techniques. Some bosses truly become a walk in the park after you do understand these. Yes, there is always a high possibility that you could be going into a fight underleveled, but this game gives you complete freedom to discover and toughen-up your character. Deaths are necessary and they are supposed to teach you lessons, so there's no point in stressing out about it really. In it's own way it's rewarding and very addictive. The runbacks from the bonfire to the boss fight have always been excessively time-consuming in Dark Souls games - I won't ever encourage them being as long as they are, and this combined with pretty long preparations in case you break your weapon or if you get cursed certainly is very annoying and it builds up on the reputation of this game which is already considered pretty hard. But you just have to love these boss fights - Ornstein and Smough, the Four Kings, Gwyn... they are all incredibly unique and just iconic at this point.
The multiplayer aspect of the game is fantastic. Why doesn't more games have a simple mechanic such as leaving messages to other players to warn them about something or give them hints/point their attention to something (or sometimes just simply bait them into death). It's interactive in the simplest way possible, yet this simple mechanic has connected the community in such a wonderful way. Wherever you enter a Dark Souls discussions, it's going to be full of references to these messages. Next to that, you have the black phantoms that invade your world to create havoc and the white phantoms that will help you in your journey as you summon them. These can be both NPCs or other players too. PvP though? It's really not balanced.
The lore is deep and very interesting, even though it might seem confusing and unexplained. To be true, the story of Dark Souls is very cryptic, and you will certainly need to reach out onto the internet at times, but this exploration means understanding the story. It is not "set in stone", it's not told through cutscenes, the story of Dark Souls is told through your actions entirely. All the characters you meet and all the items you collect are there to guide you.
And the DLC... Man, I ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ love Artorias. Fighting Artorias makes you feel like everything you played through made you for that exact moment. There is no room for error. That's when you finally realize why everyone relied on him to save them. Through the game, you will hear the legends of Artorias fighting the abyss, and ultimately losing to this abyss with him being consumed to it. The DLC builds up onto the main story really good, and it's quite supposed to, as this content was meant for the original game which was cut short in order to meet the release date. The new area is great, and the new boss fights are great, with some very haaard boss fights (Kalameet and Manus). They are the toughest bosses in the game and a true test to your patience.
This striking gothic art direction is S-tier, with both gorgeous and frightening scenes, and the game has a great sound design with really nice soundtracks. Some of these sound effects will get stitched on to your brain for the rest of your life. And the piano in the final fight... After all the struggle through the entirety of the game that was dead silent and plain dreadful, that piano was a cherry on the top. Everything about this game's art direction is just masterfully elegant.
Play it. If you start it and you just can't see this game being good, return to it later. I swear, this game will just click with you one day and you'll understand it all then.
