The Dark Souls series is, for lack of a better term, intimidating – even veteran players returning to the games at higher New Games levels find new challenges and tougher bosses awaiting. Players entering the world of Dark Souls for the first time go in with a ton of preconceived notions, though, that don't do anything for anybody involved.
At its heart, Dark Souls wants to challenge players, both in terms of understanding what's going on and in terms of the actual gameplay. Getting rid of one's prior notions of the game is the best thing a new player can do to experience the game as it was meant to be experienced, not how others have told you to experience it.
10 Dark Souls, Sekiro, and Bloodborne Are Too Hard
The main misconception of the Dark Souls series, and of all From Software titles, is that they are too hard. These games don't hold the player's hand and typically give the bare minimum instructions on how to do anything.
That's part of the charm of the game, though, is overcoming the very fair odds and the sense of relief that grants. People who claim that Dark Souls games are the hardest games ever made have clearly never played the original Contra, Ghosts 'n Goblins, or anything from the Ninja Gaiden series.
9 The Narrative Doesn't Make Sense
One of the most unique (and most frustrating) things about the Dark Souls series is the narrative. The series' lore is sprawling, vast, complex, but it's also hidden away. While one has to trove through dialogues and item descriptions to get a sense of the world, it's anything but nonsensical.
At each of the games' core is a deep story putting the player in the driving seat of the fate of the world, and ultimately the lore is seamless if not a little disjointed. Dark Souls 3 is truly the embodiment of "I don't know why I'm here, all I know is that I have to kill" as Iudex Gundyr is the first boss fought within minutes of launching the game.
8 Animation Locking Is Unintuitive Design
One of the hallmarks of Dark Souls and From Software combat is animation locking. Instead of using quick jabs that one can easily duck out of, players are forced to watch an entire attack play out – even if it doesn't connect.
However, this forces the player to consider things much more strategically. Will another swing connect, or will it leave me open for a counter? If not for animation locking online PvP would certainly be a disaster.
7 Dark Souls 2 Is The Worst Video Game Ever Made
Just about everything that From Software has put their touch to turns to gold, but there is one outlier among Dark Souls fans: the second game. Dark Souls 2 doesn't continue from Dark Souls, features less maze-like maps, and overall presents a bit more of a linear experience.
The thing is, though, is that Dark Souls 2, for all of its flaws, is still much better than most RPGs out there even today and well-deserving of the Dark Souls brand. Compared to Dark Souls and Dark Souls 3, though, it's a little less favored among fans, though many are overtly vocal about their disdain for the title.
6 The Series Is Responsible for the 'Souls-like' Label
Dark Souls is considered a landmark in gaming where one company decided to stop holding players' hands and present a classic RPG experience in modern times. Many games have been inspired by the dark, foreboding world of that series, but it certainly wasn't the first of its kind.
Before the term Soulslike came around, people used the term Metroidvania instead, and it wasn't From Software's idea to coin a new term for something that already exists.
5 Every Boss Can One-Shot The Player
In line with the perception of difficulty in the Dark Souls series is the perception of bosses. Bosses in the series are frightening and complex, each with their own move sets and style of combat, but none of them are unfair.
Players who spend time learning how to take opportunity of enemy movement, how to dodge roll correctly, and how to parry will save themselves a whole lot of heartache over so-called "impossible" enemies like Gwyn or the Soul of Cinder.
4 Host Advantage Is To Blame For Online Deaths...
Host advantage is a term used to describe how servers online are operated – in this case, many players assume they were beaten in online PvP because the host of a world had less lag, thanks to the honor of being the host.
However, Dark Souls servers are not run from the player's end. To put it basically, they are run from the cloud. This means that anyone you see online complaining about host advantage in the Dark Souls series is just salty that they were beaten in PvP.
3 ...And It's Not Efficient To Invade Others For Souls
Using a Cracked Red Eye Orb (or its numerous equivalents in other Dark Souls games) allows a player to invade another world at random and attempt to kill the host. If successful, they gain a huge percentage of their souls, though not all.
This has led many players to consider online invasions as a waste of time, but if a player beats somebody who happened to have a ton of souls on them, it's very lucrative indeed – if not perhaps a little luck-based.
2 Heavy Armor Is Necessary To Avoid A Quick Death
Typically in RPGs Heavy Armor is the most defensive option, available to toughen up a soldier or give major defense to a tank. In Dark Souls, though, armor values are almost meaningless. They will reduce damage taken, but it's not significant enough to lose dodging effectiveness.
The more a player is burdened the less effective their dodge rolls will be, sometimes called a "fat roll." Don't opt for the most defensive armor just because of its stats, opt for armor that allows mobility in combat instead.
1 The Souls Games Was From Software's First Major Release
From Software is so synonymously associated with Dark Souls that it's hard to believe they ever worked on anything else. In fact, well before Dark Souls was even an idea in the minds of developments, From Software was already pretty well-regarded in the industry.
The King's Field series serves as direct inspiration for their most well-known franchise, and games like Metal Wolf Chaos and Armored core 2 were incredibly well-known Mech games upon their release. Of course, From Software also released Demon's Souls before the Dark Souls series, too, though the games are different in a lot of ways.