We are coming into the homestretch of me talking about the ten games that define me or the ten games you need to know I’ve played to kknow more about me. I talked about games 7 and 8 in the last post, and they were both catch-alls for a genre rather than noted just for the games themselves.
This list is supposed to be the list of ten games that people need to know you’ve played in order to know more about you, not necessarily your top ten games or your top ten favorite games of all time. I’ve done a little of colum A and a little of colum B. In this case, however,we need to talk about my two favorite games of all time because they are the two games that define me as a gamer, and to some extent, a person.
9. Dark Souls III (FromSoft). Up until recently*, this was my favorite game of all time. This is the game that got me to fall hopelessly in love with FromSoft games, and it’s the first From game I played real time with the community. That was in 2016, and I could not get enough of it. It was so hard, and I was furious at a choice I made (which got me to look things up on the regular rather than try to do it all myself). My favorite armor piece of all time is in this game (the Sage’s Big Hat), and it’s a tribute to a character in the first game (Big Hat Logan).
This game pushed me to be better than I thought I could be. Back then, I bought into the whole ‘you have to solo the bosses to be a rEaL sOuLs PlAyEr’ mentality, but I just could not do it with this game. There were four bosses I needed to summon for (Abyss Watchers, Pontiff Sulyvahn, Twin Princes (Prince Lothric and Prince Lorian), and Nameless King. I did not feel good about it, and I rectified it on my second playthrough. I have also soloed all the bosses in the DLCs.
it took me twice as long to beat the game for the first time as it always done. I’m really bad at games, and it always takes me nearly double the time it takes other people to finish a game. Some of that is me doing every bit of content I can in a game, but it’s also me being shit at most games. This is the game that taught me patience, persistence, and resigning myself to banging my head over and over and over again. It broke me down, only to (somewhat) build me back up again.
But! It also taught me that I don’t have to do it the hard way if I don’t feel like it. The freeing thing in playnig a second time through is that I can cheese all I want–cheese to my heart’s content. I don’t give a fuck because I no longer have to prove anything to anyone. I have played this game dozens of times, and one of the fun things for me to do is find creative new ways to cheese the bosses.
I have played this game several dozen times. I may not have finished all of them, but I have finished the game at least ten times, if not more (with DLC). I have played up to NG+5 or +6, and there’s a joy in being so OP, I can kill most anything without a second thought. In addition, once I have beaten a From game, I have no qualms about summoning humans in future playthroughs.
This is by far my favorite of the Souls trilogy. While the OG Dark Souls is the best at innovating, the second half of that game is, to put it mildly, wildly uneven.** The second game is better than most people give it credit for, but it’s hard to love, which I’ll readily admit. The third game is the most polished of the three. This is the way I put it: It’s like the old rock band who’s been around for twenty years and put out a best of album with two or three new songs. No, the new songs aren’t going to be surprising or different than their other songs, but they’re going to be damn good and catchy.
Lots of OG Souls players like to complain about this game, but whatever. They complain when things are different; they complain when things are the same. In fact, I think this is a big reason why the second game was so hard to make and was not well-received. They tried to do things diffreently, and people did not like that. They tried to keep other things the same, and people did not like that, either.
Look. Here’s the thing. Dark Souls was neer going to get a sequel that made everyone happy. In fact, if Demon’s Souls had been better received, people would have complained about Dark Souls. In fact, people who played Demon’s Souls first and loved it did complain about Dark Souls. Hades II is a sequel that people love better than the original. I would say though, that it did not innovate as much in the second game, and more aptly made it a better experience for most people.***
Dark Souls III had a few innovations, a few returns to mechanics from earlier games, and much of what people loved about the first game. The jagged edges were buffed, and the result was a very slick, satisfying ppackage.
More importantly, this was the first game that I tried to play when I got home from the hosppital after my medical crisis. While I was in the hospital, one of the occupational therapists recommended me playing video games in order to work on my motor control. She mentioned that she and her son played Breath of the Wild for an hour every night. I thought that was sweet, but more to the point, I was pleased that I had the official thumbs up to game.
I was anxious when I picked up the controller for the first time. I had passed all my motor skills tests while I was in the hospital with flying colors, but who really knew what kind of damage I had sustained from my medical ordeal?
I nearly cried when I started running around Firelink Shrine. That’s the hub world in the game, and I return there after every boss fight to chill with my buddies. I pressed every button and I had no issues with it. I had tears in my eyes as I just wandered around Firelink Shrine. I wasn’t trying to fight anything or do anything hard–I was just grateful to be back.
That took me longer than I thought to write about this game, though I should not be surprised. It’s been my favorite game nearly since I first played it (though I will admit it had to let it grow on me), and it will always hold a special place in my heart. I will wait until tomorrow to write about the tenth game. I don’t think it’ll surprise anyone to find out what it is.
*Try to guess when.
**Hot trash.
***Me not included.