Long before humans existed, dragons controlled the world. The dragons were nearly extinct when humanity arrived, thanks to the Four Lords, great god-like beings who defeated them in an epic battle. The Age of Fire began a glorious age for humankind but could not remain. A strange affliction has already started to appear: known as the Darksign, those who bear it are cursed to become immortal undead, returning from death until they eventually lose their wits. One day, a Chosen Undead will arise, and the world will change dramatically. One of the many undead escapes the asylum where he is imprisoned, which is considered the first hint of the role he will later play.
Dark Souls is a third-person action RPG, a spiritual sequel to Demon’s Souls, released in 2009. It is mechanically identical to its predecessor. The player can select one of several character classes for the protagonist, as well as gender and physical appearance. When leveling up, character qualities can be manually upgraded. The game occurs in a network of interconnected, mostly dungeon-like sections teeming with adversaries. Some regions are readily accessible, albeit the adversaries there may be too difficult for the player to defeat at an early point. Combat gives you a wide range of actions, including active parrying, blocking, rolling, and various assaults with the equipped weapon. The player must keep an eye on their vitality and stamina meters. All activities deplete stamina, and the player becomes vulnerable when the bar is depleted.
Like its predecessor, Dark Souls brags about its undeserved reputation and high difficulty level. Even the most innocuous foes can be lethal if not treated with caution, and many situations may appear unjust at first glance, but there is always a solution to be found. The game occurs in Lordran, a massive continuous environment in which all regions are interrelated. The game also has a unique and extensive online play system in which players can attack or aid one another for advantages and find and leave notes for one another.
Souls, obtained from defeated foes and serve as currency and experience points, can be used to increase the player’s abilities and equipment. Humanity is a secondary, considerably more scarce currency that gives a variety of situational rewards. Humanity can be utilized to resurrect to human form, allowing the player to ignite bonfires to gain more healing supplies and summon help from NPCs or other players. If the player is defeated, they will revert to hollow, return to the last bonfire they rested at, and lose all souls and humanity. It can be recovered by returning to where it died, but it is gone forever if they fail again before collecting it.
