Thinking that if I was going to write for a gaming website I had better pick up a ‘real’ gamer game, I did go out and purchase Dark Souls.  Granted, it sat on my shelf for two days, the title staring at me like two great, glowing eyes in the darkness.  The inexperienced gamer in me quavered at the prospect of it, though my friend, and primary gaming council, Benjamin was adamant that I play.  I was barraged by friends warning me about the high death rate but armed with a lengthy email of advice from my own gaming Ben(jamin) Kenobi, and a can-do attitude I waded, undeterred into the blackness to face my fears.

I picked a Pyromancer (at the advice of Benjamin, of course), and played my way through the first level.  I was astounded and impressed with the graphics, though having not played Demon’s Souls (and let’s face it, being rather incompetent) I was at a loss for how to even basically grasp the leveling system.  Surprisingly, I didn’t find the dying over and over and over aspect to be a deterrent.  Of course, I’m in my mid-twenties and even children’s games when I was a kid were difficult.  I am finding myself quite enjoying the challenge of not being able to stroll through the levels.

That being said, SOME tutorial or explanation of any of the game play systems would be helpful, even if it was optional for newbs like me.  I do understand that the learning curve for these games is steep and that they’re counting on the gamers not being…well…Katamari enthusiasts like I am, but I still think that the 360 users would have appreciated some explanation.