In our previous episode, a stalwart hero named Steerpike (actually his name is Ste, because it’s really irritating entering letters into the PS3 with thumbsticks) died 133 times while accomplishing essentially nothing at all. That installment took me to about October 12, so an even week of play since Dark Souls released. I’ve been writing these silly diaries in an email chain to friends who literally couldn’t care less, so what you’re reading here is the edited, tidied up, improvified versions.
I’ve got this trudging, bloviating, pedagogical article about the Souls games cooking, one that includes references to Kierkegaard and “Non-Campbellian Heroism,” but I figured I’d start with a series you guys might actually find fun to read.
I have a bit of a thing for Demon’s Souls, and for Dark Souls, and I’ve been keeping my (utterly disinterested) friends in the loop with the latest via a series of emails that do not include any mechanism for them to unsubscribe. This here, after the short preamble, is an edited and improved version of that.
It’s only Part One, though, there’s more to come! I wanted to get far enough ahead that I could actually have some backlog to work with. I’m at death 700-something, so my adventures scarcely begin here!
So we knew that From Software, creators of the glorious Demon’s Souls, were working on a “sequel.” Now we know its name: Dark Souls, to be published in the west by Namco-Bandai. That’s a bit of a surprise, since Atlus did so well with the original it seems they’d want sequel localization rights, but there you go. All we know right now is that it’ll be a PS3 exclusive in Japan but probably a PS3/360 …
Atlus-published From Software’s Demon’s Souls arrives at retail in North America a la mañana, and the raves continue to pour in. I’ve seen nothing below an eight and plenty of 9.5s (and higher), all incongruously paired with statements like “the hardest game I’ve ever played,” “I’ve never felt frustration on this level,” and “brings new meaning to the word ‘grind.'”