entertainment
By Connor Roisum Entertainment Editor
art by connor roisum
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h my god. What have I done!?” I said aloud to myself as I entered the land of Lordran, a realm populated by giant, poisonous “ rats, undead soldiers with the intent only to kill, humans who managed to stay alive in this age of fire who are straight-up annoying, and Black Knights who are sure to tear you a new one. But where am I? What could this desolate world possibly be? Oh, that’s right. It’s DARK SOULS, the game that has its own special section in my mind. It’s a thought world that I’d like to ignore once in awhile, but it keeps calling back to me, begging to be played again and again like an addiction. Most times, temptation takes over and I’ll play in this rotting world for hours, even though I have a pile of homework to finish. And, after 123 hours as I enter NG+2 (New Game plus, third playthrough), I often find myself wondering if I could have gotten to this playthrough sooner if I had only a vague idea of what this world had in store for me. I’m not talking about a walkthrough per say, but tips to help me thrive in this virtual Hell. And as a game that has landed on lists of the world’s hardest games, I’m sure there are other poor souls who wished they had this knowledge, as well. So, here it is, a list of the most useful tips in DARK SOULS that is guaranteed to reduce controller-throwing, wall-punching rage as you play through this game that only Satan could have created.
OTHER PLAYERS CAN, AND WILL INVADE YOUR GAME FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THINGS HOLY, ANOR LONDO, THE CITY OF GODS, IS wish I could have known MEANT FOR GODS DONT CONFRONT A BLACK KNIGHT what the first tolerable human
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hen I first started my game, I was like a little kid starting Kindergarten. I was nervous about the world around me, the people in it, and didn’t know anything about the road ahead. My first painful lesson I learned from DARK SOULS was being ransacked by a Black Knight. Probably the coolest but most terrifying enemy in DARK SOULS is the first Black Knight you encounter which has a starting HP (Health Points) of 497. A regular, undead soldier has an HP bar of only 102, which can still be a daunting task. Consider this as you start your game, and also that you can only deal out very little damage, and it takes multiple hits to kill. So, as you take that into account, you can imagine how many hits you have to land on a Black Knight, all the while it is trying to disembowel you like it ain’t no thing. And, as I said before, that is only the first of twelve Black Knights that you face throughout your travels through the land of Lordran.
characters and title inspired by from software
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hroughout the game, you learn that the undead character you are playing as, is tasked with a quest that almost every undead has hoped to complete. And as you prove your worth throughout the game, you will make it to Anor Londo, The City of Gods. In this city there are Sentinels, Silver knights with ridiculously large bows that will send you flying and hurtling off a bridge, and two enemies you had faced before as bosses. But the real thorn, or in this case lightning spear, in your side is the boss duo Ornstein and Smough. This boss fight is by far one of the most rage inducing fights I’ve ever had, and I’ve beaten this game twice now. Both times, this dynamic duo has been as hard to hit as hitting a Blue Angel jet and a tank with a flyswatter. My suggestion with these guys is to take them on one at a time. Kill one of them because the surviving one will absorb his fallen ally, Smough will gain lighting abilities, and Ornstein becomes a giant while keeping his incredible speed. Additionally, all HP you have taken away from them will be recovered. In this fight, there is no easy way to beat these guys; all you can really do is dodge, and dodge like there is no tomorrow.
DYING IS THE ONLY WAY TO LEARN
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I met, Solaire of Astora, had meant when he first told me, “We are amidst strange beings, in a strange land. The flow of time itself is convoluted; with heroes centuries old phasing in and out. The very fabric wavers, and relations shift and obscure.” Put very simply, the game was telling me Player vs. Player is a feature in this game. I had not realized this, which is why I was freaking out when a black textbox at the bottom flashed, “Dark spirit ‘1NS3R+_N4M3_ H3R3’ has invaded!” I tried to run to the nearest bonfire, only to be stabbed in the back and ultimately killed by another player who had way more hours of gameplay logged on their profile than me. By doing this, he stole my souls, humanity, and worst of all, my innocence. This murder caused me to undergo a metamorphosis, from a once innocent man, to a player killer who will do unto others that which had been done unto myself, showing no mercy and gaining a nice sum of souls.
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ARK SOULS is not a game that rewards players for being clever. Right off the bat the game shows how much of a lowly being you are. You are a human who is inflicted with the curse of the undead, doomed to be reborn after each death and to one day go insane and become hollow. You get no special treatment. Ever. So in order to traverse any dungeon, you must die in order to learn the artificial intelligence of certain enemies (here’s to you, mushroom men on steroids!), you must learn that certain obstacles will most definitely harm you (I’m talking about you Lost Izalith), and even learn that there is a boss fight that is programed to make you lose in order to progress through the story (why, Seath The Scaleless, why?). But, if you learn anything, it’s that this game takes patience and you should trust almost no one in the SOULS series. So, as you sit there helplessly exclaiming about confusion, I hope these tips will make your experience with DARK SOULS a lot less stressful. I don’t doubt for a second though that you won’t enjoy this game, just be patient with it and try not to punch a hole in your TV. So be careful out there; neither of us want to see you go hollow.
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the norse star, september 2015