Why it was so popular and influential?

it convinced """""gamers""""" they were good at something

>>388923203
It felt fresh as hell and didn't hold your hand. You were free to explore on your own and do just whatever.

It reintroduced the mainstream to difficulty by way of simplicity.

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Captured an aesthetic that is unique to video games that other mediums cannot capture due to limitations. It was truly, art.

>>388923203
memes

>>388923246
exactly this. convincing people that your game is hard so normies can play it, beat it, and then jerk themselves off about how good they are at videogames because they did will sell way more units than making an actually hard game.

>>388923203
>Why it was so popular and influential?
Obnoxious fan base pushed it so hard that it backfired and made it mainstream, therefore ensuring they wouldn't be allowed to enjoy the sequels.

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>>388923386
>It felt fresh as hell
?

>>388923679
Demon's Souls didn't get enough coverage, but you are correct.

>>388923679
>>388923732
Dark Souls was also different from Demon's Souls in a lot of ways.

>>388923679
Dark Souls doesn't have a dumb pointless hub with portals that go to random fucking places.

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>>388923826
>Dark Souls doesn't have a dumb pointless hub
?

>>388923679
needed the PC elite and xbox normie crowd m8

It's popularity and influence is overstated

They gave someone's ridiculous fever dream DnD campaign production values. It invited the player to explore by rewarding their efforts with actual content instead of NPC dialogue trees and bear asses.

>>388923826
The main problem with Demons Souls was that loot weighed you down.

For me anyways, this meant a lot of treks back to the storehouse because I wasn't leaving some armour despawn now that I've picked it up. A lot of pointless trecking got removed from Dark Souls, but the hub in Dark Souls isn't pointless anyways, the world is built on returning to places previously visited and Firelink facilitated that.

>>388923203
Because, thanks in part to the proof of concept of Demons Souls which was regarded somewhat as a cult classic, it had
>Innovative multiplayer system
>Large amount of content
>High but skill based difficulty
>Replayability, in build variety and Difficulty boosts

Under it's belt and was getting hyped to shit by everybody. Prepare to Die edition is basically an ascended meme for fucks sake.

>>388923203
It was an absolute masterpiece. In time were animated movies were being sold off as games, it brought gameplay into the spotlight. Myazaki never thought stuff like "oh, is the story cool like this?", he always thought "how will the player react to this situation, should i change it?". Art direction was fantastic, and it really felt like you were the only sane person in a vast land. The non-linearity in the first 70% of the game really gave you so much choice on what to do, and it wasn't really openworld, just fantastically interconnected. To be honest, I had already played hundreds on hours on Demon's Souls when Dark Souls came out, and I can tell you it still hit me like a brick. You know how overwhelmed you can be when you see/listen/watch something (a painting, some song, a landscape, etc) that you consider to be beautiful that it actually makes you cry with no explanation. That was the level Dark Souls was at, for me. It wasn't the perfect game because of rushed Lost Izalith, but had that bit been done properly it would have been the only game I could genuinely say: "don't change it".

>>388923679
I had played hundreds of hours of Demon's Souls before Dark Souls came out. Demn's Souls was the "game" changer for me, but I think Dark Souls clearly stepped it up, and made the new setting feel completely different than the one in Demon's Souls. Also, the way you progress through the map and "story" in Dark Souls was very VRY different, and it was a big part of what made Dark Souls a masterpiece.

>>388923556
this, so much

>>388923556
Oh look a legit answer, better ignore it and reply to shitposts instead.

>>388924694
Don't reply to yourself faggot

>>388923203
It was the dark souls of arpgs

It was in the right place at the right time.

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>Dark Souls is considered hard
>When games like Ninja Gaiden Black are 10x harder and came out long before

>>388923203
In an era where games were trying to be more like movies, it managed to make a big splash going the opposite direction. The game itself is great, but it really was in the right place at the right time.

>>388923203
You get to play it. It really isn't a mystery. There are too many games that actively sabotage the player's attempts to be in control.

>>388925061

You do know they can both be considered hard games at the same time, right? And Ninja Gaiden isn't even that fucking hard. Personally, I found it easier than Dark Souls.

>>388925165
Now that I cannot believe.

>>388923203
I actually just got done going through it for the first time a few weeks ago. World design is really interesting, and the atmosphere is great. Game's rather easy overall compared to the later entries I think, but it's probably my favorite one overall.

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>>388925061
>tfw O&S was the peak difficulty and all the levels after this were shit and easy

>>388923954
that can barely be considered a hub.

>>388925538
It's the definition of a hub. It's got tooth snake and paths to just about everywhere.

>>388925165
Except mechanically Ninja Gaiden is objectively more demanding than Dark Souls and also much faster pace. A game that requires far more dexterous inputs from the player as well as having much more aggressive enemies, I know for a fact that you did not find Ninja Gaiden Black easier than Dark Souls.

>>388925061
>Ninja Gaiden
>harder than any Souls game

>>388925619
It's well integrated and serves a purpose though. If it serves a purpose, it is not pointless.

>>388925538
Firelink Shrine connects to:
>Undead Asylum
>Undead Burg
>Undead Parish
>New Londo
>Catacombs
It connects directly to just as many levels as the Nexus. In addition, all of those listed above except for Burg can almost immediately lead to an additional area.

>>388923203
Memes of course

>>388925694
>It connects directly to just as many levels as the Nexus. In addition, all of those listed above except for Burg can almost immediately lead to an additional area.
But because of Firelink Shrine, all of those paths listed above can connect to each other as well. Hence, not pointless.

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>>388925694
You forgot Firelink Altar.

>>388925690
Seeing as DeS remains the most non linear installment in the franchise I'd say it does serve a purpose since no other game offers you that much freedom.

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>>388925841
>Seeing as DeS remains the most non linear installment

>>388925619
>>388925694
>It's got tooth snake and paths to just about everywhere.
that's not what makes a hub, because if it is then DkS1 has multiple hubs since almost every area in the game multiple paths leading to/from it (Blighttown for example), Firelink Shrine doesn't have a dedicated merchant, or a blacksmith, or any character/feature essential that is essential for your journey.

>>388925904
I wouldn't expect a frogposter to be very knowledgable but yes, the amount of ways you can progress through the levels in DeS is in the millions. Factorials add up fast and seeing as you have access to all the archstones after 1-1 the number of routes is quite high.

My appreciation for the game never stemmed from its difficulty directly for me.
(in fact it's fairly easy compared to most snes era games and titles like ninja gaiden)

With that being said when it released it was a breath of fresh air compared to many contemporary games which were condescendingly hand-holdy, cinematic/cutscene heavy with an over abundance of shallow QTE sequences.

>>388926035
The amount of time you can go of just pure gameplay is great, there are too many cutscenes in DaS in my opinion. I don't like how bosses usually get an opening cinematic or how they have one for entering and exiting the Painted World, that should all be seamless in my opinion.

When you pass through the fog gate at the Kiln of the First Flame Gwyn just charges at you with no introduction. That's how all the bosses should've been handled.

>>388926023
I agree with you, DeS is certainly the most linear
after 1-1 there's only a single gate left at 1-3, and to open it you only need to defeat a single archdemon (final boss in a different area)
meanwhile DaS has multiple locked areas that only open up after defeating the arguably hardest boss in that gamee

>>388926165
You can skip cutscenes.

>>388923203
Managed to get older players immersed in a game for the first time in years.

>>388926249
They shouldn't exist period. It feels cheap when you're told by Priscilla to jump off the edge to return to Anor Londo only for it to be handled by a cutscene.

>>388926345
how do you feel about the patches kicking you cutscenes

>>388926165
>literally just parroting some regurgitated e-celeb opinions word for word

>>388926402
Same way, it's a minor complaint but I still don't think they're necessary. What do they really add to the experience when the entire goal of the game was to be immersive? I don't think they add anything so similarly I don't think they would take away from the game if they were removed.

>>388923203
the beauty of this game imo stems from how everything in it from mechanics, to art direction, to hud design, to storytelling method, to combat, to world design, they all seem to interact and click so nicely with each other, nothing looks out of place (like minimaps, objectives lists, difficulty options), every design decision is chosen because it enhances the experience the developers were trying to deliver, which created one of the very few truly wholesome gaming experiences out there.

>>388926564
>What do they really add to the experience when the entire goal of the game was to be immersive?
Show me the interview where Miyazaki says that.

It's fun.

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Is this the best final boss song in vidya?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AB6sOhQan9Y

>>388926752
I don't think you comprehend the meme power that the MGR:R music has.

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>>388926698
http://metro.co.uk/2012/08/29/dark-souls-interview-hard-master-556118/
He mentions twice about delivering an immersive experience to players and if you can't tell that was part of the goal through it's non intrusive ways of teaching the player, lack of a map of any sort and rather obtuse game mechanics that the player themselves needs to find then I'm not sure what to tell you.

>>388926752
>3 notes
Meh

>>388927017
Ok, I thought you were pulling that out of your ass to justify your dislike of cutscenes. I'd hardly consider DaS to have immersion breaking levels of them, you spend more time on the average loading screen than you do any of the cutscenes apart from the opening cinematic.

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>>388927089
The first chord is comprised of four notes alone.

>>388927149
>I thought you were pulling that out of your ass to justify your dislike of cutscenes.
?
>I'd hardly consider DaS to have immersion breaking levels of them
I agree like I said it's a minor point, I just find some of them contrived with the situation with Patches in the Tomb of the Lost Giants being a good example. It'd be like if when Solaire turned on you it was initiated with a cut scene rather than just him running at you with his sword.