T w e n t y S i d e d

Hopefully I cleared out all the inevitable Dark Souls conversation in our last post, so this time we can actually talk about the game we’re playing.

On the other hand, it’s so hard to talk about this game without bringing up Dark Souls, because the influence is so enthusiastic. The death mechanics. The armor mechanics. The bonfire mechanic. The glowing doorways. The archers. The mood. Shortcuts, traps, stamina, potions, dodge-rolling, shields, cryptic strangers, enormous bosses, the repetition, the fight to recover lost resources after death, getting knocked off ledges, and the atmosphere of decay and ancient buildings.

I don’t really fault the game for this. It’s quite thoughtful and intentional in it’s design. This doesn’t look like someone wanted to copy Dark Souls because it was popularIn contrast to most WoW clones, it looks like someone really loved Dark Souls and wanted to make their own riff on it. The difference here is the the former copies mechanics without understanding them, which the latter copies mechanics precisely because they understand them.

Is that a blurry line? Yeah. But I think often its clear enough you can tell which side a game is on.

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.

I spend some time in this episode making fun of “git gud” culture. Chris talks about it more in-depth in his most recent video on the game.

To be clear, I’m aware that not everyone who loves Dark Souls is an insufferable, condescending braggart. There are lots of articulate people who love the game and can have an enjoyable conversation about it with non-Dark Souls fans. But Dark Souls fans are the vegans of gaming, earning a bad reputation on account of their most zealous members. The Git Gud brigade make the game a chore to talk about. I find I often avoid mentioning the game as an example because I know it will turn into a massive thread-jack.

Me: This game is hard in the same way the Dark Souls is hard.

GG: ACTUALLY, Dark Souls isn’t hard…

(100 comments of people talking past each other because they all have different definitions of “hard”.)

I actually admire Dark Souls for having such an intentional approach to its mechanics, and the way the mechanics blend so well with the atmosphere of the game. But the game is not for me, and I know there will inevitably be a conversation attempting to get me to play the game. And that conversation will be difficult, punishing, and dreary.

Just like Dark Souls!

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.