VGOTY 2011 #1 - Dark Souls

There is a very vocal minority out there on the inter-webs who consider Dark Souls to be the undisputed game of the year; some even go so far as to say it is the game of the generation. The only reason I would question that judgment is because Demon's Souls still holds a special place in my heart - otherwise, yeah they're spot on! Dark Souls is a "spiritual successor" to the previous game from From Software, which ranks among my most cherished of all time: alongside giants such as Final Fantasy VII and Shadow of the Colossus. This year was all about this game for me, nothing else (except maybe The Last Guardian until it got delayed to next year) even came close; and at one point I began to worry that it wouldn't live up to my expectations, that I may be disappointed, that the teaser trailers and snippets of game I'd seen may have been wrong... they weren't. Dark Souls is one of the best games ever made. Seriously.

The game begins by filling in, rather cryptically, the mythology of the world it's set in and then explaining that you're dead. Yup, DEAD. In fact everyone is dead, or "undead" rather, and that the world is essentially on it's last legs. You escape your cell in an Asylum for undead that are slowly going insane and find a dying knight who tasks you with carrying on his mission, to ring the "Bell of Awakening". Noone knows what will happen if you do this and there's no immediate pay-off: you're not saving the world because it's already beyond saving, you're not rescuing a princess or becoming the hero... this is as bleak a game as you will ever possibly play. With sword in hand you venture forth and what slowly unfurls is one of the darkest and most immersive tales in any fantasy RPG you will ever play. The true genius of Dark Souls is that its story is told through it's world, not in cutscenes or plot.

Then there is the gameplay itself. While other games, like Skyrim, are content to have you flailing at things and casting magic while healing, Dark Souls presents one of the tightest, most difficult and most rewarding combat systems ever in a video game. All your attacks have timing and weight, and the enemy are not stupid, they will block, parry, heal and kill your ass if you do not approach every fight, no matter how rudimentary with respect and concentration. Anything can, and will, kill you in this game but if you die ITS YOUR FAULT. The game is extremely difficult, as you have to navigate some amazing level design involving dark corridors, traps and a large intertwining open world that will kill you in a split second if you don't pay attention to what you're doing; you also can't pause the game so can't leave your character standing somewhere dangerous while you pop to the loo.

Then there is the innovative online functionality. This is a single player game - full stop! However, it is always online and your game will pull information from others playing at the same time as you; presenting bloodstains that you can touch to see how others have died before you. Sometimes you see ghosts of other players as they navigate their world. You can summon other players to fight alongside you if you are stuck on a particularly difficult boss fight or you can invade other people in an attempt to kill them and steal the game's most precious resource: humanity. I really could go on and on and on about all the amazing things that this game does well, and does differently from anything else that's out there. But really it's the survival-horror-action-RPG atmosphere that keeps me coming back to this game.

I really strongly suggest that you read some reviews and if you have a PS3 or Xbox 360 give this game a go. It may not be for everyone (some people - game journalists included - simply can not get through it and become overwhelmed by the high difficulty it presents) but it is indisputably one of the greatest video games ever made.