There is a form of beauty in dark souls, I never really found it somewhere else . It's like the "melancholy of a world slowly dying ", it's the best way i can describe it.
Fun thing is that the confusing, incomplete knowledge vibe was intentional. The writer said he wanted to recapture the feeling he had of growing up in Japan, trying to read English fantasy novels despite not knowing much of the language.
@@HannaHsOverInvested If you are at all interested in the lore of Dark Souls there is a channel called VaatiVidya who made a series of videos called "Prepare to Cry" explaining the Dark Souls lore in a surprisingly accessible manner. The lore of Dark Souls is obscured in the game and requires players to do a lot of exploration and investigation in order to understand, so some of the lore is guesswork. But that inherent mystery is why many people fall in love with the lore, it's a game that tells its story in a way only video games can.
Dark Souls does alot of its story telling through in-game visualization. As you can tell, it's an especially grim story and the content matter is not exactly enthusiastic either. However, it's a franchise that's received a lot of praise for that novel story-telling and soundtrack, notwithstanding the infamously challenging gameplay loop that has caused many controllers to be broken. It's a great game if you don't find the atmosphere too suffocating
@@AbystomaMexicanium I consciously made that word choice because I KNOW if I said hard some nerd would have come up and when WELELAKCSHUALLY ITS NOT THAT HARD and I dont wanna deal with that
They try, but you have to study to watch toons of videos and read what people say to understand. 100% that you, me, or practically the 99% of the people that played the game, wouldn't understand a shit if there wasn't internet. Without internet and people explaining things, just playing the game no one would understand or even notice the "story telling"
Also; if you're so inclined, a youtuber by the name VaatiVidya makes very very good Dark Souls lore videos that illustrate the depth of this game's story despite it being kind of vague on first glace.
I love dark souls, but i know its the kind of thing you either love or hate, if you give it a chance, and dig deeper in the lore and in the characters i bet you'll change your mind
Dark souls, demon souls and bloodborne are all super dark, super depressing and very punishing games, if you're ever feeling too upbeat, take a look at another one of those :)
Dark souls isnt really punishing. Games over the decades basically got alot of easier than in the past and dark souls beeing hard today is kinda the epitome of that
@@semiramisubw4864 tell that to Dark souls 2 janktastic hit boxes and never ending state of slow motion and the camera that sometimes spins around when the game thinks you can't see the clearly visible enemy your locked onto.
@@semiramisubw4864 There is a differance between difficulty and being nigh impossible.......Like the old battle toads games. Bug ridden, bullshit mechanics, and horribly designed. Old school games weren't made to be fun, they were made to eat quarters. I get that you have nostalgia, so do I, look at the trash fires of your youth with your eyes open.
Dark souls tells it's story through Visuals, atmosphere and Item descriptions. It challenges the player to figure out what the hell is going on and is extremely rewarding because of it. I really recommend you check out the third one because it finally puts the nail in the coffin and concludes the series with (imo) an extremely satisfying ending along with an astounding story and visuals.
For me, I'd say the story of Dark Souls is finding hope and meaning in a meaningless and seemingly hopeless world, about persevering and overcoming the darkness within and around. Whether you chose to usher in the Age of Dark, reject the Throne of Want, light the Kiln or any of the other choices, you defied the odds and became more than just a nameless Hollow meant only to suffer in insanity. You met so many people, many of them hopeless and lost like you, and even if you couldn't save them in the end, you helped them and remember them long after they're gone. The story is sad and overwhelming, but it is about overcoming all that stands against you, regardless of your reason and motivation you became something more, you became the last hope of a dying age or the herald for something new.
Personally I've always really liked how the story across the Souls series is intentionally very vague. You play as a character who has arrived at these places and kingdoms long after they've fallen and succumbed to Undeath, who doesn't really know what's going on or how any of it happened. Aside from your basic goal, most of the rest of the backstory and lore is told through item descriptions (e.g., a sword that you find might describe the knights who were known for using that kind of sword, and that sort of thing) and by interacting with non-player characters, who give tiny bits of dialogue to you. The rest is very open to individual interpretation, and there's a very involved community that likes to discuss and share different interpretations and ideas. No two people are going to have the same explanation for certain characters or events. All that being said, yeah, it's a big downer of a series haha. While it does have its (small) moments of brightness that shine through occasionally, I definitely understand why you wouldn't be interested, and I'd almost say it's sort of an "acquired" taste. Either way, I love your videos and really like that you took the time to react to Dark Souls!
The first Dark Souls is my favorite game. Even though the game has a whole mythology, most people who beat the game only learn a small part of it. Because unlike most games Dark Souls doesn't just give it to you with a bunch of explicit cinematics. You can beat the game and still miss most of the story. If you are interested in the lore you have to actually look for pieces of it inside the game and put it together yourself. There are character arcs of different npcs which you can follow and influence from start to finish, but you can easily miss them. If you want to know the story you have to explore areas thoroughly, talk to npcs, read item descriptions, and figure out what the aspect of the different areas tell you about their history. It is full of secrets, even entire areas are hidden. There are secrets inside of secrets. I remember I read somewhere that the creator of Dark Souls, who is japanese, used to read illustrated books of fiction in english when he was a kid. He didn't know english very well, so he would understand a few words of each page and then look at the drawings. He knew there was a story there but he only had small pieces of it, so he would try to piece it together, creating his own story in the process, which he loved. Years later he played a game called "Ico" which has similar storytelling (it doesn't give you the story, you have to figure it out), and that made him realize that he could use that medium to tell interactive stories like that. So he quitted his job and started looking for a job at videogame companies in order to learn how to make videogames, he was 29 (which is inusual behavior in Japan, just quitting your career path at that age). He is also a fan of western mythology and history, so there is a lot of that in Dark Souls (there a lot of real castles and monuments recreated in the game), mixed with some japanese culture. Gameplay, level design, music, story... everything about it is great. Amazing game.
HannaH: "Okay, I'm here for the dragons" Me: "Oh, if only you knew..." In case you didn't already know, the lore of Dark Souls is as convoluted and confusing as you can possibly get in a video game. Once you figure it out however, it's pretty rad. And always remember, PRAISE THE SUN!
4:04 Those were my thoughts when I first saw that particular scene with Seath the Scaleless. The sight of a pale, twisted dragon screaming in triumph over the bodies of his kin left one hell of an impression.
Dark souls is like Warhammer - is dark and depressing and feels hopeless, until you find that little bit of light, that thing to fight for. The story you want to create, for Warhammer maybe it’s for rebuilding humanity, for Dark Souls, it’s helping restore the world and reigniting the fire
Reigniting the flame can actually be considered the bad ending. You're just continuing the cycle and the apocalypse will happen again. Best to let it die and let the world move on. reigniting it is a selfish, vain attempt and bringing back the age of gods.
@@DonGeritch It's corny by design though, it's so massively over the top fantasy/sci-fi that it has to be ridiculous, like orc's literally paint things red, because red things go faster, and in the lore it actually goes faster, just because they believe it does - orc's are the comic relief in a super brutalist world, and in the end you just have to be sit back in awe at the sheer level of creativity in cosmology and world building, like we also have corny shit in real life, like Gaddafi was pretty corny, but also a bit of a psycho.
@@omega1231 doesnt matter to me if it's by design, I'm just saying it's corny. and imo it's not to its benefit, and DS is completely different ballpark. DS is also over-the-top, but without being corny, because there's a strong artistic intent beyond making it over-the-top, while I don't see such intent behind WH. It seems like it's just made to give angst-boners to the type of boys, like I was in preteens. and actually the creativity that is required to build it is on the level of angsty preteens boy also. Bionicle lore is more creative honestly.😅 just my impression.
Hanna. The despair. The feeling of unease, dredge and anger. That is the psychology of Dark Souls. Putting you in a situation that "Hanna" would never want to be in, and coaxing you to give in to your fear and NOT play the game to see what happens next. Knowing that one day....possible years from now, a 53 years young Hanna will pick up the controller in attempts to challenge her fears....only to be met with the frustration of impossible tasks of eluding death ...over and over again.
Dark Souls is a masterpiece and a modern-day classic. And the fact that it's so difficult and heavy is a necessary part of its genius. Not to go on a big tangent I'll just point out one thing - this game actually helped a lot of people to deal with depression. Because while it draws such a bleak picture of a fading world, it asks of you as a player to find yourself something worth fighting for, something to hope for, and keep moving forward. And that's a very valuable lesson to have and I believe it's a great achievement for a game (or any piece of art) to pull off something like that.
Would just like to say that I'm people. Dark Souls was the first step to, while not pull me completely out of, but start fighting my depression. I can still feel the emotions beating the Taurus Demon for the first time made me felt.
The most intriguing aspect of all the Dark Souls games is that they all take place in periods where all the action has...already happened, the apocalypse has come and gone, the glory days are long since past and you are nothing, just an insignificant speck on a vast, bleak plane. So you wander through the plane, picking up scraps of knowledge here and there whilst wondering what the hell just happened and knowing full well that eventually you will lose everything that made you the person you are, when someone tells you "hey, try doing this and you might just get by." You heed their words and you head off down a path, you don't know where it will go, you don't know what awaits you, all you know is that you might find what you're looking for. Along the way you run into others, some are following the same path you tread, some are following their own paths, some are trying to cling to the lives and roles they once held and some have lost their way entirely and have become the very thing you're terrified of becoming. Finally, you reach your destination, you started from nothing, overcame impossible odds and defeated beings that are far beyond you by sheer perseverance, now you are faced with a choice: Prolong the broken, dying world you suffered through for an indeterminate amount of time, let it finally rest and enter another era, or maybe choose another fate for it. That's Dark Souls.
When you love videogames sometimes its hard to answer what is your favorite, as there are soo many, yet when the question is asked - Dark Souls is one of the few that easily come to mind.
when the trailer ends and your first reaction is "what", that made me super happy! good luck if you ever play these games, i am sure you will love them.
Dark souls is a world of sadness and struggles, but it is an extremely encouraging place as well. It taught me that no challenge couldn't be overcome and I could succeed past even the most punishing circumstances. Also if you ever want to, VaatiVidya has a ludicrous amount of videos detailing lore and characters in digestible formats on this series. Gives more context to a series that will starve you for it.
Aaah dark souls. A series of games where you play as an undead at the edge of the cycle of existence, wandering through the decrepit realms that were once glorious, now destitute. *Plin plin plon*
Dark Souls will be very difficult for a non-gamer to understand. It doesn't tell its story in a conventional way, but mostly through "environmental storytelling", & the story is not about the player character, but about the world itself. Someone can play through all of the Dark Souls games & not really know a thing about the story. Or, they can dive deep into the world, the item descriptions, the enemy placements, the cryptic dialogue, etc. & uncover a whole complex world & thousands of years of dense lore. Edit: It's kind of like the SIlmarillion turned into a game that people love for its rewarding difficulty.
If you're confused now, wait until you watch stuff about Dark Souls 3 and Bloodborne XD Especially Bloodborne (game from the same creator, Hidetaka Miyazaki, heavily inspired by Lovecraft works) is full of symbolism and has a very cryptic story that leaves a lot to interpretation. Also Dark Souls 2 is made from mostly the same development team but was not directed or written by Hidetaka Miyazaki, so they kinda made up a lot of things that contrasted the original lore. Miyazaki came back for the third game and thought of a story that could fix the whole mess and justify the second game, also adding more cryptic things that confused a lot of people even more XD If you want a detailed explanation of the whole story and theories I suggest you to watch Vaatividya videos, he really did a good job explaining things.
Dark Souls is heavily influenced by the Manga "Berserk" Which depicts how a mere Human has to go up against Fate and indescribable Demons called "Apostles". The Manga in rough, heavy and disturbing at times. It depicts the most Human thing that exists.. To survive and struggle against the odds. This is exactly what Dark Souls does, The Player is faced by Enemies that are hard to defeat even as someone who plays a lot of games. But eventually you overcome these foes, learn from your mistakes and claim victory which is really satisfying. Your Progress and hard work pays off. This is what makes Dark Souls a masterpiece, the game doesnt hold your hand, it expects you to investigate what happened to this slowly dying world by yourself. I would suggest watching stuff from Bloodborne too, same Producers as Dark Souls, but a more lovecraftian setting. There is a Video from a guy called Max0r which reviewed the game on a really satirical and funny way, but since you like more story driven Videos I can highly recommend VaatiVidya's Lore videos! :)
I love your unique reactions as a non-gamer. It's been a bit tough for me to follow recent vids along because I don't follow overwatch, warcraft, or warhammer at all, (with no intention of playing them) and there's been quite a bit of those videos, but I do have Dark Souls on my list to play so this was perfect to get an intro with a shared reaction with you. :)
Yeah, I never got into Dark Souls, but I have to admit it was revolutionary in the way it told its story, that story just wasn’t for me. You’ve already reacted to Horizon Zero Dawn, maybe you’d like to try the trailer for the sequel, Horizon Forbidden West? Even the gameplay reveal has a lot in it. (HZD is my all-time favorite game so I might be sliiiiightly biased)
I gave up darksouls 4 times before finally got into it fully in sekiro. Then I went back to the trilogy for full experience. Don't give up mate! You can always come back if you're interested.
@@nyizaw8335 I might, I enjoyed my time with Nioh and Nioh 2, so I’ll probably enjoy the gameplay, but the mood of Soulsborne is a tad too bleak for me
Dark Souls' method of storytelling is one of my favorites in all of video games. I tried to replicate part of the feeling you get from discovering the lore and story through the environment in my novel, but failed badly. But the hidden lore of the first game alone is absolutely something worth checking out in the future! Some seriously deep stuff!
I understand how you feel. I too felt that depressing and heavy tone that they're giving. Now that i have seen, heard & even played it. This game is depressingly beautiful. Many life lessons can be learned and for me it helped me battle my anxiety and helped me during my lowest point in life, because no matter how hard life is, it's not as hard and depressingly morbid as Darksouls universe.
Dark Souls is about dying kingdoms, and ages ending. And how so many is fighting the inevitable. It actually touches a lot on philosophy, and I love how cryptic the story is. The story never just tells itself to the viewer, it actually demands that the viewer think and research it to understand it. So many characters in those games represent a human ideal or idea that are very real, on for example how we deal with the end of it all. And as a result a lot of the stories told are very tragic. The idea of hollowing is that as long as you continue your fight in life, you don't go hollow. But once you start to doubt your path, or see how pointless it all is, you will start to wither. This is incorporated into the character, so many of them end up hollow husks at some point or another. If you like dark fantasy, this is worth checking out. A guy names VaatiVidya has a whole channel dedicated to the lore of these games.
Randomly discovering and playing through Dark Souls when it first came out is one of the most magical and profound gaming experiences I ever had. This was before the series reached legendary status; before all the lore, secrets, and mechanics were figured out. This was before when the only footage you found of Dark Souls was trailers and early game footage. No streamers, no Vaatividya, no wiki page, no nothing but a very mysterious and challenging game to figure out. Going into that game blind and beating it, when it was once vague and unknown to the rest of the world was something I don't know if I'll ever experience again. I'm truly grateful! 😃
the writer of this series, Hidetaka Miyazaki, used to read english fantasy books as a child, but had a limited understanding of English, so he filled in the blanks and made stuff up. He used that to write the story here, we dont have even half the answers to our questions but we have a ton of evidence to speculate with. Its designed to be mysterious and weird, and for us to try to figure out what the heck is happening
Imagine if she played this. . . And passed it. The story of this game isn't really the main focus. It's the gameplay. What story there is you have to basically find it.
You have been trolled, Dark souls is famous for having obscure confugissin and impenetrable lore, and not being forthcoming with it. Also "Simultaneously stressed and bored, whilst still intrigued, angry AND sad" is the normal emotional response to Dark Souls.
For what it's worth, I think you'd absolutely hate Dark Souls. It's body-horror enemies that you have to slowly and gradually eviscerate to death. One of the most famous examples is The Gaping Dragon - Google that and you'll get a good idea of the character design. Also, a baddie called Ceaseless Discharge. Tee hee. I only played DS after listening to it being over hyped for about 5 years and I was MASSIVELY disappointed when I finally got to playing it.
Yeah, Dark Souls kind of reminded me of the lazy old Wolfenstein clones of the early nineties. Like, you don't participate in the story, it's all spelled out for you to read. People seem to think that taking all the backstory and spreading it across 100 different places is really clever, instead of just writing all the story in the game manual.
@@jolan_tru Reminds ME of one of those lazy old console ports where you died and had to go back to the last checkpoint and you had to fight past all the same enemies time and time again.
Dark Souls is a culture in the community. You will find critics refer back to it for comparison, designers take note from it, lore/storytelling gets inspired from it, etc. It changed the landscape forever in the industry. We also then of course, have it's captivating successor: Bloodborne (The Old Hunters)...
I was happy you stuck with dark souls 1 for the video, considering that all the games take place far apart from each other, so it wouldnt be very coherent. Also they way Dark souls story really unfolds is through its extensive Lore, and great many item descriptions you can read in the game - which is really a huge part of how you as a player actually yourself have to piece it all together. And you can always dive deeper into the lore if one is inclined. Miyasaki really made one of a kind games, and will hopefuly continue to do so.
The game is pretty dark, but for me the best thing about the story is that the story and lore is conveyed through the enviroment, the dialogue and item descriptions. Piecing together what happened in the game is really enjoyable and theres people like vaatividya who makes video about the lore of the game. The intros are just to set the tone of the game which is really fitting even for the gameplay
That 5:06 reaction is precisely what 99% dark souls fans feel first time. It's a series with nice, but extremely straightfowards immediate plot, but very rich and varied background lore and heavy on character motivation.
A quick description of the themes of dark souls: The first game is all about the cycle itself. Basically showing how this all started. All the NPC‘s you meet talk about the importance of linking the fire, and that it’s a noble quest. Dark souls 2 has this same cycle becoming strong enough to either continue the age or rule it. But there is actually another more important theme in the sequel. It better highlights exactly what the undead curse does and what it means for people. The NPC‘s in this one focus more on them struggling to continue to remember what was important to them and why it was important to begin with. Dark souls 3 prevailing theme is actually more prominent. It’s ‘ exhaustion’ there is this prevailing feeling of tiredness like everything is worn out it basically implies that the cycle has been going on over and over for an endless eternity to the point to where it’s exhausted. It’s frayed to the point to barely be holding together.
This series of games are amazing. But I feel like a MAJOR component of what makes it beautiful is having to struggle through it yourself. It is really immersive and really draws you in and makes it so that it feels oh so rewarding to get through the struggles. It makes you feel things while you take it in that otherwise you wouldn't feel. That's the beauty of having that extra aspect of gameplay, that neither movies nor books can convey.
Since October is a few weeks away, do you have a list of games that have some elements of horror or would you like some help with that? Also, this is my final bi monthly cry for a bonus reaction of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim trailers on 11/11/21.
Dark Souls is more than just a game, it’s a teacher. You will learn patience, you will learn perseverance, you will improvise, adapt, and overcome. I credit Dark Souls, along with my dad and his father with making me the man I am today. In short, Dark Souls made me a better person.
Dark Souls is a very cryptic game series where the very rich lore is vaguely stated in item descriptions like a puzzle with the pieces laid down for you to piece together. It's very melancholic and has a sort of beauty I haven't seen elsewhere. Basically, the world is ending and you're dropped into a world full of history. Neither you nor your character really know what's led to the current state of the world but you can piece it together using the environment and the things left behind if you wish... Or you can totally ignore it and just go hit the cool looking monster.
Have you thought about reacting to the Silent Hill series? It's not as action based as these have been, and it's very metaphorical. The first is about protecting a daughter and unveiling the past of the title town, the second is about crime and punishment (literally influenced by the book)... the characters are really well written and the whole town ends up being the main character. yes it's dark, yes it talks about some messed up themes but I think you could appreciate this one.
The story of dark souls only really comes to live through playing it I'm afraid. The game has a very well crafted atmosphere of mystery and oppressive adversity the player is essentially forced into. Everyone in power tells you are a choosen hero, but you will meet others who where told the same and succumbed to despair, it shows how heroic tales and narratives of saviors are purpousfully planted by the powerful to manipulate other to do their dirty work. So your story is a tragic one and you will meet others who end tragically as well, but you are to find the resolve to keep going. In the end your choice is between either continuing the old power structure or supplanting it with your own, it's heavily suggested you are manipulated either way. Tho the world of dark souls has a lot of beauty to it, within the tragedy you find tales of heroism and loyalty because you are not the only one with a mission. My favorite character is actually from dark souls 3 and his is Eygon of Carim and when you first meet him he is a GIGANTIC prick. He is a knight charged with protecting a blind woman who is on a sort of pilgrimage and who is kind of fucked. You can talk that woman into helping you on your quest so wich might also give her an opportunity to finish hers, tho Eygon will tell you he aggrees with her helping only as long as you not do anything funny. She can teach you miracles from tomes you find cause she can read braile, tho some tomes you find contain dark miracles. Reading those hurts her and causes darkness to consume her, she describes it as the things that nibble at her in the darkness, tho she will teach them to you if you keep pressing her about it. Should you do that Eygon, who so far has been nothing but condescending to you and her "kidnapps" her and you have to find her if you want her to teach you more miracles. If you find her Eygon will confront you and say "I made myself very clear. My allegiance remained only as long as you assured the girl's safety. This knight of Carim does not forgive betrayal. Even a broken woman deserves her dignity...". At that point you can kinda look back at everything he said about you and her and it comes of in a very different way, instead of condescending you see that he actually cares very much about his charge and you have become a very clear villain for trying to manipulate a person in vulnerable position for your own gain. Dark souls has a LOT of depth to it, but it's storys are told in a very minimalist and very understated way. It creates a feeling that there is always more to everything in it's world and for the most part that's 100% true, but you will have to look for it and actively think about what your being shown and told to get it.
Honestly the intro is cryptic, but its like that so that you can connect the dots as you play the game. its not meant to make you understand dark souls right out the gate but rather give you context to call back on as youre going through the game.
The writer of Dark Soul (Hidetaka Miyazaki) was obsessed with western fairy tales when he was young. Unfortunately, his English wasn't the greatest. Because of this, some of the stories he read had gaps in them where he had to skip over some too-difficult phrases or paragraphs. He was left to wonder about these "missing" portions but still had a grasp of the bulk of the story. When storyboarding for Dark Souls, he wanted to convey that same sense of wonder over missing information. This is done in the game by giving very little exposition with the bulk of the story being somewhat hidden in item descriptions, where items and enemies are found, the state of locations, and the appearance of various enemies and bosses. In the game, it is like everyone knows exactly what is going on except you. It is up to you if you want to figure it out or not. Some folks have taken away a mentality of never giving up after playing the games. The games are unkind; but, so long as you keep trying you never really lose. At their heart, the games are about about accepting failure and loss while still trying to succeed.
I really enjoy watching people play dark souls games for the first time. Just seeing the light in their eyes burn out in the first ten minutes. Seeing the blood drain from their faces and the balling of fists.
here is a list of characters that have survived to the end of time in dark souls dragon slayer Ornstein(the seemingly unkillable furry that appeared in dark souls 1 dark souls 2 and dark souls 3) Gwyndolyn(he is Gwyns son) Faraam(Gwyns firstborn) Gwynevere/Rosaria(Gwyns daughter) Gertrude(Gwyneveres firstborn who ended up becoming "the dancer of the boreal valley") Sif(somehow despite the fact that he died in dark souls 1 you can find him in a "just barely alive" state in dark souls 3) "trusty" Patches(he calls himself "Lapp" which literally means "patch" and he has been around since dark souls 1) Gough(the giant archer who happens to be one of Gwyns 4 knights which consist of Ornstein Artorias Ciaran and Gough) and those are all the ones I know of
haha i cant share the same sentiment as you Hannah, i absolutely love bleak and dark stories like this one..idk why but this gets me rather pumped up and excited by the creepiness and darkness of it all. and theres something oddly soothing about it too. although i do love my share of uplifting stuff. like the opening moments of Fellowship of the Ring in The Shire.
Dark souls is a really interesting and great series of games. It’s aesthetically pleasing and has a great atmosphere. The games can make you wish you want to die with how hard some of the bosses in the game are. But that didn’t deter me from basically 100% DS 3 and BloodBorne and working on 1 and 2 eventually. I have beaten all of these games but they are really fun for me even if I have broken at least once controller essentially. There’s just a lot to these games it’s not for everyone and will never be for everyone. But they got a lot of cool designs for armors, weapons, and bosses. Glad you took a look at this stuff. It’s always interesting to see a happy go lucky good feels person just try to watch something melancholic and depressing. Keep it up.
In the souls series the term hollowing is kind of like a person loosing themselves in madness or even dementia. Eventually all undead become hollow shells of their former selves.
Dark Souls from what ive been able to gather is heavily inspired by Tolkien but not Tolkiens Middle-Earth. What i mean by that is Tolkien himself was inspired by a thousand year old poem written by an Anglo-Saxon knight (obviously knights couldnt read or write so the poem itself was written down by a pastor). The basic idea of the poem is that the knight has lost everything. He has no kingdom, no castle, no brothers, no people, no village to return to. So all that he has really left in life are the memories of his king and his people. And he had gone and visited all of those places where once he could remember people celebrating and living life and seen those places totally abandoned and empty with only castle walls reminding him that anything was actually here. The poem is called The Wandered. Tolkien even took the name Middle-Earth from this poem. In short in Dark Souls you are wandering not a small county or duchy but and entire empire if not kingdom that is entirely dead or even worse in most cases. As for if anyone would like to discuss the deeper meaning behind the whole vibe of art and literature like that I would be more than happy to contribute :D
Now we're talking. Dark Souls is all about a dying world. It's a game about struggling, suffering, enduring and triumphing. Your character dying repeatedly is guaranteed, but you will only win if you persevere. The story isn't in your face, but you gather it from dialogues between characters as well as item descriptions. Dark Souls' 1 and 3 have my favourite openings. Bloodborne from the same developers is also really good. And they revealed a new game with a similar atmosphere, called Elden Ring. Dark Souls was so popular that many games tried copying it's gameplay formula. I think the most successful one (and I love the series more than Dark Souls) is called the Nioh series. It's not really set in a dying world or anything. It's set in Sengoku era Japan, where "demons" are thriving due to war, and a special substance called Amrita. Despite all that it actually has a much "friendlier" setting... and the enemies are less body-horror-ish, most of them are based on Japanese yokai. Like an umbrella that just wants to slap you with its singular foot. If you want something more upbeat, I recommend Persona 5. The music in those trailers and openings will probably get you moving. Otherwise the Yakuza series, starting from 0. The main story in the Yakuza games are all serious crime dramas with action thrown in, but outside of that it's a really fun game where the main, usually serious characters, gets thrown into some absurd but not entirely unrealistic situations. Oh... and the opening to Ace Combat 7. It's amazing. You can watch the trailers after.
An interesting thing about the Dark Souls games is that they don't require you to engage with the story at all. It's mostly told passively through the world itself, and you're only pointed in the general direction of where the game's objectives are. As a result, the level design and gameplay do a whole lot of storytelling on their own, without getting in the player's way. In fact, there are a lot of things about the story that are never directly stated, and which the community can only make educated guesses about. That's not to say it can't be followed. The games are vague, but the important parts aren't very complicated. It also lets the actual gameplay and combat stand front and center when you experience the game. And it's the challenging but rewarding gameplay, excellent level design, and intuitive yet deep combat system that have gotten so much acclaim.
If your interested a series called Tragic souls is we’re a VA voices over a couple characters from darks souls and goes in to their story and motivation
I can assure you he does. Everything in these games he made as they are for a particular reason. He just wants people to think for themselves, because just giving the plots meaning to the consumer on a platter like many other games, movies and books do is boring and defeats their purpose.
Edit with links - I'd really like you to see the metal gear solid V launch trailer! You've looked a lot at modern games and such, and there are callbacks to previous games of the series. It's a fantastically done trailer by none other than Hideo Kojima himself czcams.com/video/A9JV0EvCkMI/video.html The 2014 and 2015 e3 trailers are also pretty good czcams.com/video/Rfn4UBmhfAM/video.html czcams.com/video/RhseWPWYPBA/video.html
Dark Souls is essentially about a world trying to avert the dark fantasy heat death of the universe. What's beautiful about the first game is that you initially piece together that you're a "chosen one", given a noble quest by the gods to replace their Zeus equivalent and shovel back the apocalyptic tide just like he once did. Only if you dig deeper, you might uncover that you only "replace" him in terms of becoming the next sacrifice, and the status quo you're perpetuating is one that benefits the gods at the cost of humankind. That their "noble quest" is a way of conning members of the oppressed minority into perpetuating their own oppression. (Even if the alternative may still be even worse)
There is a form of beauty in dark souls, I never really found it somewhere else . It's like the "melancholy of a world slowly dying ", it's the best way i can describe it.
I agree. The first game has this oppressive entropic atmosphere. It is as if nothing you do will fix a world broken at its core.
Woaw well said, thats exactly right
At that same point The music they use for Gwyn encompasses the "world is dying and we're hanging on by a thread" vibe
Perfectly put.
check out Angels Egg
Fun thing is that the confusing, incomplete knowledge vibe was intentional. The writer said he wanted to recapture the feeling he had of growing up in Japan, trying to read English fantasy novels despite not knowing much of the language.
and he NAIL it
And to draw inspiration from berserk too
The lore and stories behinds some of the characters are amazing and some will leave you in tears.
I believe you.
@@HannaHsOverInvested knowing the backstory of all the bosses makes them even better too!
poor doggo
@@HannaHsOverInvested If you are at all interested in the lore of Dark Souls there is a channel called VaatiVidya who made a series of videos called "Prepare to Cry" explaining the Dark Souls lore in a surprisingly accessible manner.
The lore of Dark Souls is obscured in the game and requires players to do a lot of exploration and investigation in order to understand, so some of the lore is guesswork. But that inherent mystery is why many people fall in love with the lore, it's a game that tells its story in a way only video games can.
@@somename3424 join the forest guardians, protect doggo
Hannah “My soul is made out of marshmallow.”
Also Hannah: watches the trailers to some of the darkest games that exist.
😭😭😭😭
marshmallows are best toasted
@@HannaHsOverInvested Best Doggo - Thats all you need to know to play
@@atrin8203 and thou unkidnled marshmellows always seek embers...
Dark Souls does alot of its story telling through in-game visualization. As you can tell, it's an especially grim story and the content matter is not exactly enthusiastic either. However, it's a franchise that's received a lot of praise for that novel story-telling and soundtrack, notwithstanding the infamously challenging gameplay loop that has caused many controllers to be broken. It's a great game if you don't find the atmosphere too suffocating
*famously challenging
It's good precisely because it's challenging but fair.
@@AbystomaMexicanium I consciously made that word choice because I KNOW if I said hard some nerd would have come up and when WELELAKCSHUALLY ITS NOT THAT HARD and
I dont wanna deal with that
@@viziontrex just git gud son
They try, but you have to study to watch toons of videos and read what people say to understand. 100% that you, me, or practically the 99% of the people that played the game, wouldn't understand a shit if there wasn't internet. Without internet and people explaining things, just playing the game no one would understand or even notice the "story telling"
The atmosphere isn't suffocating, its empty, the game has no story because I don't know, Miyazaki didn't have money for a script.
Also; if you're so inclined, a youtuber by the name VaatiVidya makes very very good Dark Souls lore videos that illustrate the depth of this game's story despite it being kind of vague on first glace.
Don’t forget epicnamebro.
YES
or thepruld
@@inoli3164 pruld and lore don't fit in the same sentence
@@anoldbeggar9742 pruld corrupts lore and makes it hilarious. See, they do fit into the same sentence.
I love dark souls, but i know its the kind of thing you either love or hate, if you give it a chance, and dig deeper in the lore and in the characters i bet you'll change your mind
Dark souls, demon souls and bloodborne are all super dark, super depressing and very punishing games, if you're ever feeling too upbeat, take a look at another one of those :)
I saw a coment in another video that says "the H in Dark Souls stands for happiness"...
Dark souls isnt really punishing. Games over the decades basically got alot of easier than in the past and dark souls beeing hard today is kinda the epitome of that
@@biggus88 but there is no H. . . Oh
@@semiramisubw4864 tell that to Dark souls 2 janktastic hit boxes and never ending state of slow motion and the camera that sometimes spins around when the game thinks you can't see the clearly visible enemy your locked onto.
@@semiramisubw4864 There is a differance between difficulty and being nigh impossible.......Like the old battle toads games. Bug ridden, bullshit mechanics, and horribly designed.
Old school games weren't made to be fun, they were made to eat quarters. I get that you have nostalgia, so do I, look at the trash fires of your youth with your eyes open.
Dark souls tells it's story through Visuals, atmosphere and Item descriptions. It challenges the player to figure out what the hell is going on and is extremely rewarding because of it. I really recommend you check out the third one because it finally puts the nail in the coffin and concludes the series with (imo) an extremely satisfying ending along with an astounding story and visuals.
Hannah: What is going on?
Miyazaki: Yes
For me, I'd say the story of Dark Souls is finding hope and meaning in a meaningless and seemingly hopeless world, about persevering and overcoming the darkness within and around. Whether you chose to usher in the Age of Dark, reject the Throne of Want, light the Kiln or any of the other choices, you defied the odds and became more than just a nameless Hollow meant only to suffer in insanity. You met so many people, many of them hopeless and lost like you, and even if you couldn't save them in the end, you helped them and remember them long after they're gone. The story is sad and overwhelming, but it is about overcoming all that stands against you, regardless of your reason and motivation you became something more, you became the last hope of a dying age or the herald for something new.
Personally I've always really liked how the story across the Souls series is intentionally very vague. You play as a character who has arrived at these places and kingdoms long after they've fallen and succumbed to Undeath, who doesn't really know what's going on or how any of it happened. Aside from your basic goal, most of the rest of the backstory and lore is told through item descriptions (e.g., a sword that you find might describe the knights who were known for using that kind of sword, and that sort of thing) and by interacting with non-player characters, who give tiny bits of dialogue to you. The rest is very open to individual interpretation, and there's a very involved community that likes to discuss and share different interpretations and ideas. No two people are going to have the same explanation for certain characters or events.
All that being said, yeah, it's a big downer of a series haha. While it does have its (small) moments of brightness that shine through occasionally, I definitely understand why you wouldn't be interested, and I'd almost say it's sort of an "acquired" taste. Either way, I love your videos and really like that you took the time to react to Dark Souls!
it's a grimdark story so you must like those kind of storys...
The first Dark Souls is my favorite game. Even though the game has a whole mythology, most people who beat the game only learn a small part of it. Because unlike most games Dark Souls doesn't just give it to you with a bunch of explicit cinematics. You can beat the game and still miss most of the story. If you are interested in the lore you have to actually look for pieces of it inside the game and put it together yourself. There are character arcs of different npcs which you can follow and influence from start to finish, but you can easily miss them. If you want to know the story you have to explore areas thoroughly, talk to npcs, read item descriptions, and figure out what the aspect of the different areas tell you about their history. It is full of secrets, even entire areas are hidden. There are secrets inside of secrets.
I remember I read somewhere that the creator of Dark Souls, who is japanese, used to read illustrated books of fiction in english when he was a kid. He didn't know english very well, so he would understand a few words of each page and then look at the drawings. He knew there was a story there but he only had small pieces of it, so he would try to piece it together, creating his own story in the process, which he loved. Years later he played a game called "Ico" which has similar storytelling (it doesn't give you the story, you have to figure it out), and that made him realize that he could use that medium to tell interactive stories like that. So he quitted his job and started looking for a job at videogame companies in order to learn how to make videogames, he was 29 (which is inusual behavior in Japan, just quitting your career path at that age). He is also a fan of western mythology and history, so there is a lot of that in Dark Souls (there a lot of real castles and monuments recreated in the game), mixed with some japanese culture.
Gameplay, level design, music, story... everything about it is great. Amazing game.
HannaH: "Okay, I'm here for the dragons"
Me: "Oh, if only you knew..."
In case you didn't already know, the lore of Dark Souls is as convoluted and confusing as you can possibly get in a video game. Once you figure it out however, it's pretty rad.
And always remember, PRAISE THE SUN!
It's a good thing she's here for the dragons, because the dragons ain't here themselves XD
Not as confusing as The Elder Scrolls lore tho... That is a whole another beast.
We need more Dark Souls reactions *
& to the story of Dark Souls in general. And just so you know, we appreciate you!
4:04 Those were my thoughts when I first saw that particular scene with Seath the Scaleless. The sight of a pale, twisted dragon screaming in triumph over the bodies of his kin left one hell of an impression.
Dark souls is like Warhammer - is dark and depressing and feels hopeless, until you find that little bit of light, that thing to fight for. The story you want to create, for Warhammer maybe it’s for rebuilding humanity, for Dark Souls, it’s helping restore the world and reigniting the fire
except wh is also corny af😁at least I personally can't take it seriously at all
Reigniting the flame can actually be considered the bad ending. You're just continuing the cycle and the apocalypse will happen again. Best to let it die and let the world move on. reigniting it is a selfish, vain attempt and bringing back the age of gods.
@@DonGeritch It's corny by design though, it's so massively over the top fantasy/sci-fi that it has to be ridiculous, like orc's literally paint things red, because red things go faster, and in the lore it actually goes faster, just because they believe it does - orc's are the comic relief in a super brutalist world, and in the end you just have to be sit back in awe at the sheer level of creativity in cosmology and world building, like we also have corny shit in real life, like Gaddafi was pretty corny, but also a bit of a psycho.
@@omega1231 doesnt matter to me if it's by design, I'm just saying it's corny. and imo it's not to its benefit, and DS is completely different ballpark. DS is also over-the-top, but without being corny, because there's a strong artistic intent beyond making it over-the-top, while I don't see such intent behind WH. It seems like it's just made to give angst-boners to the type of boys, like I was in preteens. and actually the creativity that is required to build it is on the level of angsty preteens boy also. Bionicle lore is more creative honestly.😅
just my impression.
Hanna. The despair. The feeling of unease, dredge and anger. That is the psychology of Dark Souls. Putting you in a situation that "Hanna" would never want to be in, and coaxing you to give in to your fear and NOT play the game to see what happens next. Knowing that one day....possible years from now, a 53 years young Hanna will pick up the controller in attempts to challenge her fears....only to be met with the frustration of impossible tasks of eluding death ...over and over again.
Dark Souls is a masterpiece and a modern-day classic. And the fact that it's so difficult and heavy is a necessary part of its genius. Not to go on a big tangent I'll just point out one thing - this game actually helped a lot of people to deal with depression. Because while it draws such a bleak picture of a fading world, it asks of you as a player to find yourself something worth fighting for, something to hope for, and keep moving forward. And that's a very valuable lesson to have and I believe it's a great achievement for a game (or any piece of art) to pull off something like that.
Would just like to say that I'm people.
Dark Souls was the first step to, while not pull me completely out of, but start fighting my depression. I can still feel the emotions beating the Taurus Demon for the first time made me felt.
@@VernulaUtUmbra that's awesome :)
The most intriguing aspect of all the Dark Souls games is that they all take place in periods where all the action has...already happened, the apocalypse has come and gone, the glory days are long since past and you are nothing, just an insignificant speck on a vast, bleak plane.
So you wander through the plane, picking up scraps of knowledge here and there whilst wondering what the hell just happened and knowing full well that eventually you will lose everything that made you the person you are, when someone tells you "hey, try doing this and you might just get by."
You heed their words and you head off down a path, you don't know where it will go, you don't know what awaits you, all you know is that you might find what you're looking for.
Along the way you run into others, some are following the same path you tread, some are following their own paths, some are trying to cling to the lives and roles they once held and some have lost their way entirely and have become the very thing you're terrified of becoming.
Finally, you reach your destination, you started from nothing, overcame impossible odds and defeated beings that are far beyond you by sheer perseverance, now you are faced with a choice:
Prolong the broken, dying world you suffered through for an indeterminate amount of time, let it finally rest and enter another era, or maybe choose another fate for it.
That's Dark Souls.
4:00 "That's sad. I don't like that at all"
dark souls lore and story in a nutshell tbh lol. PLEASE do more dark souls if you can!
Happiness noise
I see another fan of mental agony here.
NICE 👌👌👌
🤣🤣
When you love videogames sometimes its hard to answer what is your favorite, as there are soo many, yet when the question is asked - Dark Souls is one of the few that easily come to mind.
I recommend reacting to the "Playstation Micheal ad". It show how these are more than just games but stories that we can be a part of.
Everytime anything remotely dark comes up and she says "I don't like this!" a part of my soul dies.
when the trailer ends and your first reaction is "what", that made me super happy! good luck if you ever play these games, i am sure you will love them.
Dark souls is a world of sadness and struggles, but it is an extremely encouraging place as well. It taught me that no challenge couldn't be overcome and I could succeed past even the most punishing circumstances.
Also if you ever want to, VaatiVidya has a ludicrous amount of videos detailing lore and characters in digestible formats on this series. Gives more context to a series that will starve you for it.
Aaah dark souls. A series of games where you play as an undead at the edge of the cycle of existence, wandering through the decrepit realms that were once glorious, now destitute.
*Plin plin plon*
The Soulsborne stories are depressing and amazing specially Bloodborne whos stories are dark and lovecraftian
Dark Souls will be very difficult for a non-gamer to understand. It doesn't tell its story in a conventional way, but mostly through "environmental storytelling", & the story is not about the player character, but about the world itself.
Someone can play through all of the Dark Souls games & not really know a thing about the story. Or, they can dive deep into the world, the item descriptions, the enemy placements, the cryptic dialogue, etc. & uncover a whole complex world & thousands of years of dense lore.
Edit: It's kind of like the SIlmarillion turned into a game that people love for its rewarding difficulty.
If you're confused now, wait until you watch stuff about Dark Souls 3 and Bloodborne XD Especially Bloodborne (game from the same creator, Hidetaka Miyazaki, heavily inspired by Lovecraft works) is full of symbolism and has a very cryptic story that leaves a lot to interpretation.
Also Dark Souls 2 is made from mostly the same development team but was not directed or written by Hidetaka Miyazaki, so they kinda made up a lot of things that contrasted the original lore. Miyazaki came back for the third game and thought of a story that could fix the whole mess and justify the second game, also adding more cryptic things that confused a lot of people even more XD
If you want a detailed explanation of the whole story and theories I suggest you to watch Vaatividya videos, he really did a good job explaining things.
Dark Souls is heavily influenced by the Manga "Berserk" Which depicts how a mere Human has to go up against Fate and indescribable Demons called "Apostles".
The Manga in rough, heavy and disturbing at times. It depicts the most Human thing that exists.. To survive and struggle against the odds.
This is exactly what Dark Souls does, The Player is faced by Enemies that are hard to defeat even as someone who plays a lot of games.
But eventually you overcome these foes, learn from your mistakes and claim victory which is really satisfying. Your Progress and hard work pays off.
This is what makes Dark Souls a masterpiece, the game doesnt hold your hand, it expects you to investigate what happened to this slowly dying world by yourself.
I would suggest watching stuff from Bloodborne too, same Producers as Dark Souls, but a more lovecraftian setting.
There is a Video from a guy called Max0r which reviewed the game on a really satirical and funny way, but since you like more story driven Videos I can highly recommend VaatiVidya's Lore videos! :)
I love your unique reactions as a non-gamer. It's been a bit tough for me to follow recent vids along because I don't follow overwatch, warcraft, or warhammer at all, (with no intention of playing them) and there's been quite a bit of those videos, but I do have Dark Souls on my list to play so this was perfect to get an intro with a shared reaction with you. :)
Wow, you have been taking care of yourself and it shows. Inspiring.
Non Gamer: "Huh, Gwyn I like him"
Miyazaki: "You know not of what you speak"
Yeah, I never got into Dark Souls, but I have to admit it was revolutionary in the way it told its story, that story just wasn’t for me.
You’ve already reacted to Horizon Zero Dawn, maybe you’d like to try the trailer for the sequel, Horizon Forbidden West? Even the gameplay reveal has a lot in it. (HZD is my all-time favorite game so I might be sliiiiightly biased)
I gave up darksouls 4 times before finally got into it fully in sekiro. Then I went back to the trilogy for full experience. Don't give up mate! You can always come back if you're interested.
@@nyizaw8335 I might, I enjoyed my time with Nioh and Nioh 2, so I’ll probably enjoy the gameplay, but the mood of Soulsborne is a tad too bleak for me
Dark Souls' method of storytelling is one of my favorites in all of video games. I tried to replicate part of the feeling you get from discovering the lore and story through the environment in my novel, but failed badly. But the hidden lore of the first game alone is absolutely something worth checking out in the future! Some seriously deep stuff!
I understand how you feel. I too felt that depressing and heavy tone that they're giving. Now that i have seen, heard & even played it. This game is depressingly beautiful. Many life lessons can be learned and for me it helped me battle my anxiety and helped me during my lowest point in life, because no matter how hard life is, it's not as hard and depressingly morbid as Darksouls universe.
Dark Souls is about dying kingdoms, and ages ending. And how so many is fighting the inevitable. It actually touches a lot on philosophy, and I love how cryptic the story is. The story never just tells itself to the viewer, it actually demands that the viewer think and research it to understand it. So many characters in those games represent a human ideal or idea that are very real, on for example how we deal with the end of it all. And as a result a lot of the stories told are very tragic.
The idea of hollowing is that as long as you continue your fight in life, you don't go hollow. But once you start to doubt your path, or see how pointless it all is, you will start to wither. This is incorporated into the character, so many of them end up hollow husks at some point or another. If you like dark fantasy, this is worth checking out. A guy names VaatiVidya has a whole channel dedicated to the lore of these games.
One thing these games taught me was no matter how many times something beats you, stand back up and try again.
Nobody actually PLAYS Dark Souls game for the story! They all wait until the VaatiVidya video comes out for it.
Randomly discovering and playing through Dark Souls when it first came out is one of the most magical and profound gaming experiences I ever had. This was before the series reached legendary status; before all the lore, secrets, and mechanics were figured out. This was before when the only footage you found of Dark Souls was trailers and early game footage. No streamers, no Vaatividya, no wiki page, no nothing but a very mysterious and challenging game to figure out.
Going into that game blind and beating it, when it was once vague and unknown to the rest of the world was something I don't know if I'll ever experience again. I'm truly grateful! 😃
the writer of this series, Hidetaka Miyazaki, used to read english fantasy books as a child, but had a limited understanding of English, so he filled in the blanks and made stuff up. He used that to write the story here, we dont have even half the answers to our questions but we have a ton of evidence to speculate with. Its designed to be mysterious and weird, and for us to try to figure out what the heck is happening
Imagine if she played this. . . And passed it. The story of this game isn't really the main focus. It's the gameplay. What story there is you have to basically find it.
You have been trolled, Dark souls is famous for having obscure confugissin and impenetrable lore, and not being forthcoming with it. Also "Simultaneously stressed and bored, whilst still intrigued, angry AND sad" is the normal emotional response to Dark Souls.
stressed, bored, and angry is a perfect descriptor of dark souls 2
Simultaneously stressed and bored, a good description of proper dread. When there's nothing bad happening, but it still feels....wrong.
"Simultaneously stressed and bored." Dark Souls 3 in a nutshell
"Hannah reacts to the PlayStation showcase" would be an awesome video to watch !!
11:44
"Simultaneously stressed and bored"
Yep, that's Darks Souls 2 for ya.
For what it's worth, I think you'd absolutely hate Dark Souls. It's body-horror enemies that you have to slowly and gradually eviscerate to death. One of the most famous examples is The Gaping Dragon - Google that and you'll get a good idea of the character design.
Also, a baddie called Ceaseless Discharge. Tee hee.
I only played DS after listening to it being over hyped for about 5 years and I was MASSIVELY disappointed when I finally got to playing it.
Yeah, Dark Souls kind of reminded me of the lazy old Wolfenstein clones of the early nineties.
Like, you don't participate in the story, it's all spelled out for you to read. People seem to think that taking all the backstory and spreading it across 100 different places is really clever, instead of just writing all the story in the game manual.
@@jolan_tru
Reminds ME of one of those lazy old console ports where you died and had to go back to the last checkpoint and you had to fight past all the same enemies time and time again.
"Simultaneously bored and stressed" perfectly encapsulates the experience of playing Dark Souls.
Dark Souls is a culture in the community. You will find critics refer back to it for comparison, designers take note from it, lore/storytelling gets inspired from it, etc.
It changed the landscape forever in the industry. We also then of course, have it's captivating successor: Bloodborne (The Old Hunters)...
I was happy you stuck with dark souls 1 for the video, considering that all the games take place far apart from each other, so it wouldnt be very coherent.
Also they way Dark souls story really unfolds is through its extensive Lore, and great many item descriptions you can read in the game - which is really a huge part of how you as a player actually yourself have to piece it all together. And you can always dive deeper into the lore if one is inclined. Miyasaki really made one of a kind games, and will hopefuly continue to do so.
The game is pretty dark, but for me the best thing about the story is that the story and lore is conveyed through the enviroment, the dialogue and item descriptions. Piecing together what happened in the game is really enjoyable and theres people like vaatividya who makes video about the lore of the game. The intros are just to set the tone of the game which is really fitting even for the gameplay
That 5:06 reaction is precisely what 99% dark souls fans feel first time.
It's a series with nice, but extremely straightfowards immediate plot, but very rich and varied background lore and heavy on character motivation.
A quick description of the themes of dark souls:
The first game is all about the cycle itself. Basically showing how this all started.
All the NPC‘s you meet talk about the importance of linking the fire, and that it’s a noble quest.
Dark souls 2 has this same cycle becoming strong enough to either continue the age or rule it. But there is actually another more important theme in the sequel.
It better highlights exactly what the undead curse does and what it means for people.
The NPC‘s in this one focus more on them struggling to continue to remember what was important to them and why it was important to begin with.
Dark souls 3 prevailing theme is actually more prominent. It’s ‘ exhaustion’ there is this prevailing feeling of tiredness like everything is worn out it basically implies that the cycle has been going on over and over for an endless eternity to the point to where it’s exhausted. It’s frayed to the point to barely be holding together.
Even the last stage is covered in ash from past fire burnings.
This series of games are amazing. But I feel like a MAJOR component of what makes it beautiful is having to struggle through it yourself. It is really immersive and really draws you in and makes it so that it feels oh so rewarding to get through the struggles. It makes you feel things while you take it in that otherwise you wouldn't feel. That's the beauty of having that extra aspect of gameplay, that neither movies nor books can convey.
Since October is a few weeks away, do you have a list of games that have some elements of horror or would you like some help with that?
Also, this is my final bi monthly cry for a bonus reaction of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim trailers on 11/11/21.
I second that idea! Maybe Dead Space series? The original 3.
The is probably the most I’ve ever learned about dark souls, whenever I watch a friend play they never can explain it sufficiently.
Dark Souls is more than just a game, it’s a teacher. You will learn patience, you will learn perseverance, you will improvise, adapt, and overcome. I credit Dark Souls, along with my dad and his father with making me the man I am today. In short, Dark Souls made me a better person.
Anna after finished DS introduction: "Whaat?"
Player after finished DS: "Whaat?"
Dark Souls is a very cryptic game series where the very rich lore is vaguely stated in item descriptions like a puzzle with the pieces laid down for you to piece together. It's very melancholic and has a sort of beauty I haven't seen elsewhere. Basically, the world is ending and you're dropped into a world full of history. Neither you nor your character really know what's led to the current state of the world but you can piece it together using the environment and the things left behind if you wish... Or you can totally ignore it and just go hit the cool looking monster.
*stunned silence* "What?" - The Dark Souls experience in a nutshell
‘Stressed and bored’
Whilst watching one of the best cinematic trailer ever…
Very hard to impress aren’t ya
Have you thought about reacting to the Silent Hill series? It's not as action based as these have been, and it's very metaphorical. The first is about protecting a daughter and unveiling the past of the title town, the second is about crime and punishment (literally influenced by the book)... the characters are really well written and the whole town ends up being the main character. yes it's dark, yes it talks about some messed up themes but I think you could appreciate this one.
"I don't ever wanna play that game."
No you do not.
The story of dark souls only really comes to live through playing it I'm afraid. The game has a very well crafted atmosphere of mystery and oppressive adversity the player is essentially forced into. Everyone in power tells you are a choosen hero, but you will meet others who where told the same and succumbed to despair, it shows how heroic tales and narratives of saviors are purpousfully planted by the powerful to manipulate other to do their dirty work. So your story is a tragic one and you will meet others who end tragically as well, but you are to find the resolve to keep going. In the end your choice is between either continuing the old power structure or supplanting it with your own, it's heavily suggested you are manipulated either way.
Tho the world of dark souls has a lot of beauty to it, within the tragedy you find tales of heroism and loyalty because you are not the only one with a mission. My favorite character is actually from dark souls 3 and his is Eygon of Carim and when you first meet him he is a GIGANTIC prick. He is a knight charged with protecting a blind woman who is on a sort of pilgrimage and who is kind of fucked. You can talk that woman into helping you on your quest so wich might also give her an opportunity to finish hers, tho Eygon will tell you he aggrees with her helping only as long as you not do anything funny. She can teach you miracles from tomes you find cause she can read braile, tho some tomes you find contain dark miracles. Reading those hurts her and causes darkness to consume her, she describes it as the things that nibble at her in the darkness, tho she will teach them to you if you keep pressing her about it. Should you do that Eygon, who so far has been nothing but condescending to you and her "kidnapps" her and you have to find her if you want her to teach you more miracles. If you find her Eygon will confront you and say "I made myself very clear.
My allegiance remained only as long as you assured the girl's safety. This knight of Carim does not forgive betrayal. Even a broken woman deserves her dignity...". At that point you can kinda look back at everything he said about you and her and it comes of in a very different way, instead of condescending you see that he actually cares very much about his charge and you have become a very clear villain for trying to manipulate a person in vulnerable position for your own gain.
Dark souls has a LOT of depth to it, but it's storys are told in a very minimalist and very understated way. It creates a feeling that there is always more to everything in it's world and for the most part that's 100% true, but you will have to look for it and actively think about what your being shown and told to get it.
Your marshmallow soul was not ready. Too precious for this world.
9:21 "I haven't....that's why I'm here..." lol
Honestly the intro is cryptic, but its like that so that you can connect the dots as you play the game. its not meant to make you understand dark souls right out the gate but rather give you context to call back on as youre going through the game.
The writer of Dark Soul (Hidetaka Miyazaki) was obsessed with western fairy tales when he was young. Unfortunately, his English wasn't the greatest. Because of this, some of the stories he read had gaps in them where he had to skip over some too-difficult phrases or paragraphs. He was left to wonder about these "missing" portions but still had a grasp of the bulk of the story. When storyboarding for Dark Souls, he wanted to convey that same sense of wonder over missing information. This is done in the game by giving very little exposition with the bulk of the story being somewhat hidden in item descriptions, where items and enemies are found, the state of locations, and the appearance of various enemies and bosses. In the game, it is like everyone knows exactly what is going on except you. It is up to you if you want to figure it out or not.
Some folks have taken away a mentality of never giving up after playing the games. The games are unkind; but, so long as you keep trying you never really lose. At their heart, the games are about about accepting failure and loss while still trying to succeed.
I really enjoy watching people play dark souls games for the first time. Just seeing the light in their eyes burn out in the first ten minutes. Seeing the blood drain from their faces and the balling of fists.
here is a list of characters that have survived to the end of time in dark souls
dragon slayer Ornstein(the seemingly unkillable furry that appeared in dark souls 1 dark souls 2 and dark souls 3)
Gwyndolyn(he is Gwyns son)
Faraam(Gwyns firstborn)
Gwynevere/Rosaria(Gwyns daughter)
Gertrude(Gwyneveres firstborn who ended up becoming "the dancer of the boreal valley")
Sif(somehow despite the fact that he died in dark souls 1 you can find him in a "just barely alive" state in dark souls 3)
"trusty" Patches(he calls himself "Lapp" which literally means "patch" and he has been around since dark souls 1)
Gough(the giant archer who happens to be one of Gwyns 4 knights which consist of Ornstein Artorias Ciaran and Gough)
and those are all the ones I know of
haha i cant share the same sentiment as you Hannah, i absolutely love bleak and dark stories like this one..idk why but this gets me rather pumped up and excited by the creepiness and darkness of it all. and theres something oddly soothing about it too. although i do love my share of uplifting stuff. like the opening moments of Fellowship of the Ring in The Shire.
Dark souls is a really interesting and great series of games. It’s aesthetically pleasing and has a great atmosphere. The games can make you wish you want to die with how hard some of the bosses in the game are. But that didn’t deter me from basically 100% DS 3 and BloodBorne and working on 1 and 2 eventually. I have beaten all of these games but they are really fun for me even if I have broken at least once controller essentially. There’s just a lot to these games it’s not for everyone and will never be for everyone. But they got a lot of cool designs for armors, weapons, and bosses. Glad you took a look at this stuff. It’s always interesting to see a happy go lucky good feels person just try to watch something melancholic and depressing. Keep it up.
In the souls series the term hollowing is kind of like a person loosing themselves in madness or even dementia. Eventually all undead become hollow shells of their former selves.
Also the old lady in the dark souls 2 video is basically a norn, a Norse equivalent to the fates of Greece, knowing the past present and future.
I knew it would press down on the marshmallow, but it would only bounce off. Too pure, even for Dark Souls
🤣🤣🙏🏼
Dark Souls from what ive been able to gather is heavily inspired by Tolkien but not Tolkiens Middle-Earth.
What i mean by that is Tolkien himself was inspired by a thousand year old poem written by an Anglo-Saxon knight (obviously knights couldnt read or write so the poem itself was written down by a pastor).
The basic idea of the poem is that the knight has lost everything. He has no kingdom, no castle, no brothers, no people, no village to return to. So all that he has really left in life are the memories of his king and his people. And he had gone and visited all of those places where once he could remember people celebrating and living life and seen those places totally abandoned and empty with only castle walls reminding him that anything was actually here. The poem is called The Wandered. Tolkien even took the name Middle-Earth from this poem.
In short in Dark Souls you are wandering not a small county or duchy but and entire empire if not kingdom that is entirely dead or even worse in most cases.
As for if anyone would like to discuss the deeper meaning behind the whole vibe of art and literature like that I would be more than happy to contribute :D
13:09 "I'm angry! I don't even understand why I'm angry, but I'm angry!"
It was the freagin' spider on the thing-thing, wasn't it? ;-D
Now we're talking. Dark Souls is all about a dying world. It's a game about struggling, suffering, enduring and triumphing. Your character dying repeatedly is guaranteed, but you will only win if you persevere. The story isn't in your face, but you gather it from dialogues between characters as well as item descriptions.
Dark Souls' 1 and 3 have my favourite openings. Bloodborne from the same developers is also really good. And they revealed a new game with a similar atmosphere, called Elden Ring.
Dark Souls was so popular that many games tried copying it's gameplay formula. I think the most successful one (and I love the series more than Dark Souls) is called the Nioh series. It's not really set in a dying world or anything. It's set in Sengoku era Japan, where "demons" are thriving due to war, and a special substance called Amrita. Despite all that it actually has a much "friendlier" setting... and the enemies are less body-horror-ish, most of them are based on Japanese yokai. Like an umbrella that just wants to slap you with its singular foot.
If you want something more upbeat, I recommend Persona 5. The music in those trailers and openings will probably get you moving. Otherwise the Yakuza series, starting from 0. The main story in the Yakuza games are all serious crime dramas with action thrown in, but outside of that it's a really fun game where the main, usually serious characters, gets thrown into some absurd but not entirely unrealistic situations.
Oh... and the opening to Ace Combat 7. It's amazing. You can watch the trailers after.
Simplest way to explain the story is, "the brightest light casts the darkest shadows".
When they said the Pygmy so easily forgot they mean he disappeared with the soul
There is also Dark Souls 3 :P
I love when you ask 'IS THIS US??' hahahhahahaha
"Then I'll have an understanding of dark souls"
Oh boy that's loaded
Once someone said about dark souls: There a certain liberty in hopelessness, because things cannot get 101% fucked.
Dark Souls has so much lore and world building, it's great
To quote the jon souls the protagonist of dark souls "every soul has its dark"
5:04 that's the exact reaction of any newcomer in dark soul , "i dont get it but im in to it"
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An interesting thing about the Dark Souls games is that they don't require you to engage with the story at all. It's mostly told passively through the world itself, and you're only pointed in the general direction of where the game's objectives are. As a result, the level design and gameplay do a whole lot of storytelling on their own, without getting in the player's way. In fact, there are a lot of things about the story that are never directly stated, and which the community can only make educated guesses about. That's not to say it can't be followed. The games are vague, but the important parts aren't very complicated.
It also lets the actual gameplay and combat stand front and center when you experience the game. And it's the challenging but rewarding gameplay, excellent level design, and intuitive yet deep combat system that have gotten so much acclaim.
If your interested a series called Tragic souls is we’re a VA voices over a couple characters from darks souls and goes in to their story and motivation
Watching this again makes me feel like Hanna would love watching gametheory or arg style games explained
Hannah is showing her big angry arm/guns to match dark souls mood
Don't worry, even the creator himself doesn't know what the game it's about
I can assure you he does. Everything in these games he made as they are for a particular reason. He just wants people to think for themselves, because just giving the plots meaning to the consumer on a platter like many other games, movies and books do is boring and defeats their purpose.
5:06... Yeahhh I needed a whole other year and vati vaadya for help
Edit with links -
I'd really like you to see the metal gear solid V launch trailer! You've looked a lot at modern games and such, and there are callbacks to previous games of the series. It's a fantastically done trailer by none other than Hideo Kojima himself
czcams.com/video/A9JV0EvCkMI/video.html
The 2014 and 2015 e3 trailers are also pretty good
czcams.com/video/Rfn4UBmhfAM/video.html
czcams.com/video/RhseWPWYPBA/video.html
Put the trailer with your comment she might watch it then
She should do the metal gear series in general 1-5.
Yeah, I'm sure she'll just love Quiet's outfit.
@@rabidrobbie oh that reminds me Nier Automata would be good too
Dark Souls is essentially about a world trying to avert the dark fantasy heat death of the universe.
What's beautiful about the first game is that you initially piece together that you're a "chosen one", given a noble quest by the gods to replace their Zeus equivalent and shovel back the apocalyptic tide just like he once did.
Only if you dig deeper, you might uncover that you only "replace" him in terms of becoming the next sacrifice, and the status quo you're perpetuating is one that benefits the gods at the cost of humankind. That their "noble quest" is a way of conning members of the oppressed minority into perpetuating their own oppression. (Even if the alternative may still be even worse)
5:05 - Everyone who watches Dark Souls cinematics for the first time
I was going to say that when you "hate" the things you're reacting to are my favourite videos. But I like the reactions of things you love equally.
That's nice to hear!🤣