I first heard about Dark Souls many years ago, though it never really piqued my interest until a dear friend of mine played through the whole trilogy and made sure I knew all about it (spoiling as little as possible). As I do with any game, I checked its OST, first and foremost — and I was absolutely blown away.

I had heard Gwyn's theme before, sure - but listening to this masterpiece in-game is a peerless experience. Afterwards, I decided to play the trilogy chronologically and not only did it deepen my love for the original game, but it also made me want to replay it, going into NG+ reading every item description available and paying more attention to the environment overall. The map of this game is incomparable to any of its successors: practically the entire world is connected and there are countless shortcuts everywhere. As in any Dark Souls game, you end up discovering stuff you had no idea existed, even after 100h.

I believe the first game holds a special place in my heart because it is quite literally the origin of the powerful gods whose names are repeatedly heard about in the sequels, even after they had long perished by your own hands. You fight against the very things that created pyromancy, miracles and so many more weapons and items. The NPCs are one of the most memorable parts of the game as well, ranging from a friendly, humble knight who gave up everything in pursue of his dreams to an onion knight, who literally makes you cry by the end of his quest.

The game may be difficult, but there are times when the developers could've made it worse — yet they didn't. I believe it has a nearly perfectly balanced gameplay, teaching you where to go based on the difficulty of your enemies and exploration, although it is not perfect due to the existence of imbalanced back-stabbing in PvP, Blighttown, the Catacombs and the Bed of Chaos, specifically... The DLCs also tell you more about the world and its past, giving you insight on the noble knights of Gwyn and their purposes.

In your playthrough you'll discover all kinds of things - from hollow undeads to mighty dragons (which you can become, too, even if only anthropomorphic), many, many skeletons — and, maybe, a new passion for all things medieval and a slightly different kind of storytelling. Even if the game doesn't fancy your tastes, make sure to check its lore (I recommend VaatiVidya's YT series).

I first heard about Dark Souls many years ago, though it never really piqued my interest until a dear friend of mine played through the whole trilogy and made sure I knew [i]all[/i] about it (spoiling as little as possible). As I do with any game, I checked its OST, first and foremost — and I was absolutely blown away. I had heard Gwyn's theme before, sure - but listening to this masterpiece in-game is a [i]peerless[/i] experience. Afterwards, I decided to play the trilogy chronologically and not only did it deepen my love for the original game, but it also made me want to replay it, going into NG+ reading every item description available and paying more attention to the environment overall. The map of this game is incomparable to any of its successors: practically the entire world is connected and there are countless shortcuts everywhere. As in any Dark Souls game, you end up discovering stuff you had no idea existed, even after 100h. I believe the first game holds a special place in my heart because it is quite literally the origin of the powerful gods whose names are repeatedly heard about in the sequels, even after they had long perished by your own hands. You fight against the very things that created pyromancy, miracles and so many more weapons and items. The NPCs are one of the most memorable parts of the game as well, ranging from a friendly, humble knight who gave up everything in pursue of his dreams to an onion knight, who literally makes you cry by the end of his quest. The game may be difficult, but there are times when the developers could've made it worse — yet they didn't. I believe it has a nearly perfectly balanced gameplay, teaching you where to go based on the difficulty of your enemies and exploration, although it is not perfect [strike]due to the existence of imbalanced back-stabbing in PvP, Blighttown, the Catacombs and the Bed of Chaos, specifically[/strike]... The DLCs also tell you more about the world and its past, giving you insight on the noble knights of Gwyn and their purposes. In your playthrough you'll discover all kinds of things - from hollow undeads to mighty dragons (which you can become, too, even if only anthropomorphic), many, [i]many[/i] skeletons — and, maybe, a new passion for all things medieval and a slightly different kind of storytelling. Even if the game doesn't fancy your tastes, make sure to check its lore (I recommend VaatiVidya's YT series). [h1]Thank you, FromSoftware, for this grossly incandescent game.[/h1]