The StunLock

Maybe…

Dark Souls 1 represents a rather odd chapter in FromSoftware’s lifespan now that 2024 has arrived. Generally speaking, the game could be argued as FromSoftware’s best in terms of world design and aesthetics. Certainly, too, can it be said that for the year it came out, the boss design seen in DS1 was so far ahead of its time that the game is the masterpiece from which the “souls-like” genre was born.

The answer to the question of this article has less to do with the game’s quality and more to do with why a player might want to undertake the journey it has on offer. There are two main considerations to take into account before buying Dark Souls 1 (and we recommend the remaster for anyone who isn’t already a veteran of the game, not the Prepare to Die Edition).

First, Expect Slower Gameplay

If you’re expecting bosses designed like what is seen in Elden Ring, you’re either going to be disappointed or wildly amused (or both). The bosses, and enemies in general, in Dark Souls 1 were developed for an era where the souls-like genre didn’t exist. Thus, they were developed for a community that was strictly worse at the kind of gameplay FromSoftware offers its consumers.

The gameplay, overall, is slower. Bosses, if played with reliable sets of armor, HP, and a nice shield to boot, can be defeated by an average player on the first try almost every time, and this is by design. Almost every boss and enemy, save for a few exceptions, were designed to be manageable for someone who had never seen them before: readable movesets, limited strengths/obvious weaknesses, smaller HP pools, etcetera. In Dark Souls 1 you play slower, and you don’t need to move any faster in the first place.

Second, Expect a Tighter Design

It may become obvious at this point that both of these considerations are primarily aimed at players who have only touched Elden Ring in their FromSoftware journey. Expect a tighter design.

Each area of the game is so tightly-knit and well-crafted that they tend to bleed into each other. The starting area of the game connects to every other area in some way, and each of those areas tend to connect to other areas, hidden or otherwise. While Dark Souls 1 is an example of masterful world design, the point of this section of the article, in truth, is to tell new players that teleporting doesn’t unlock until much later in the game.

The world of Dark Souls 1, unlike Dark Souls 2 and Elden Ring, is designed to be walked through. As such, FromSoftware ensured players wouldn’t avoid the shortcut-friendly design by just teleporting around the map.

Eventually, when a significantly large portion of the map is unlocked, teleporting, or “warping”, is granted as an ability, but only to certain bonfires and only when already at a bonfire.

Should you Play Dark Souls 1?

If you can prepare yourself for a much simpler boss design philosophy paired with a world that’s meant to be explored as much as it’s meant to be traversed on foot, then yes. You should play Dark Souls 1 (Again, we recommend the remaster.)

If the two facts above don’t mesh well with your sensibilities, there is nothing wrong with saving your money and skipping DS1, at least until a later date when you feel like playing a classic.