Why Dark Souls is my Game Of Every Year
We’re nearing the end of 2024 now, and somehow despite it being such a great year for video game fans there’s still a lot left to look forward to.
The Game Awards are returning to crown another Game Of The Year, and the competition is fierce with heavy-hitters like Astro Bot, Metaphor ReFantazio and Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree. If it were up to me almost all of the nominated games would be walking away with wheelbarrows full of rewards, but unfortunately it doesn’t work like that.
Many were surprised to see Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree make the cut, but come on, how could it not?
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It did get me thinking though, thinking about my connection to games and the impact they leave on me once I see the credits start to roll. I’ve got a big long list of games I’ve curated over the years that I’d consider to be masterpieces, some of which released this year, but the only one I always have time for is Dark Souls (2011).
Dark Souls to me is what Christine Palmer is to Doctor Strange in the sense I love it in every universe and I’d wholeheartedly say that it’s my Game Of Every Year, and I don’t think it’ll ever be beaten.
All of my friends know this already, they’ve heard me ramble about the lore, watched me play the game and I even coached a few of them through their first playthroughs like a wise elder assisting a hero on their quest. Yet the other day when I was, you guessed it, playing Dark Souls one of my friends asked me why this game had gripped me like no other. After all it’s by no means perfect when you look at it critically, some of the areas are half-baked whereas others are straight-up unfinished, making Dark Souls 3 the objective best game in the trilogy. Despite my undying admiration and love for the game it was difficult to put it into words at first but I think I finally have my definitive answer.
From landing in Firelink Shrine all the way to the end credits you’re taken on a whistlestop tour of the horrors of this land, and not just because of the Undead Curse bending souls out of shape. The true antagonists of Dark Souls aren’t the demons, witches, or dragons you’ll meet on your journey, it's the Gods, specifically Gwyn. The mad king ruled his kingdom of Anor Londo with malice and ego, essentially enslaving humanity so they couldn’t overthrow him. When the First Flame eventually did begin to falter, rather than let it die out Gwyn sacrifices himself to the flame to keep the Gods in their position of power, which completely throws off the natural order and ushers in the Undead Curse, as well as other problems.
As we progress through the game we see first-hand some of the other devious activities Gwyn and his cronies were up to, but it’s only around Dark Souls 3 where we get a clearer picture of how much of a menace he and the other Gods were. The world is broken, mutated and deteriorating, yet after Gwyn’s defeat at the end of the game we’re expected to link the flame again, burning our bodies in the hopes this time something will change.
It doesn’t sound optimistic, and that’s largely the point. Your choice at the end of the game is either kindle the flame and hope things are better this time around or let the world die but essentially sticking a middle finger up at the Gods who wanted it to continue. I almost always link the flame though, much to the confusion of my friend who’s of the firm opinion that the world of Dark Souls isn’t worth saving, and I adore how opinions differ depending on who you ask.
When I play Dark Souls I see the mistakes that were made that warped the world out of shape, and while that should sway me from linking the flame that’s not all I see. For me it’s the characters you meet on your journey. There’s Oscar in the asylum who trusts you enough to continue his quest, Solaire who’s there to find his “sun”, and Siegmeyer looking for stories and glory, a hero’s life.
There are more too that are often overlooked, Artorias in the DLC only attacks because he’s under the influence of the Abyss, and deleted voice lines for the character show us how remorseful he is that he couldn’t save the world and begs us to leave before he hurts us, and even Gwyn’s son Gwyndolin can be somewhat redeemed, as despite being shunned and abandoned by his father he still endeavours to keep the light of Anor Londo shining. Almost none of these characters get happy endings, and even Solaire the happy-go-lucky warrior of sunlight can fall, but it’s Solaire’s quest that cements my admiration for this game over all others as I feel it encapsulates everything you need to know about the series.
Solaire is one of the few friendly faces you meet in the game, and he appears several times on your route to the final boss and can be summoned as an ally in many battles. Playing the game normally will see him infected by a parasite called the Sunlight Maggot, which drives him and makes him hostile forcing you to put him out of his misery. There is an alternative though. By completing the daunting and annoying task of gathering 30 humanity, you can slay the Sunlight Maggot before Solaire finds it. When you next see him he’ll have fallen into a depression of sorts as he’s still yet to find his sun, and it makes you wonder if sparing his life was actually more cruel than letting him get infected. You don’t see him again from that point until the very end of the game, when on the approach to Gwyn’s chamber you see the warm glow of Solaire’s summon sign, as he agrees to lend you his sword one more time.
This. This is why I love this game with all my heart. The world of Dark Souls is twisted and decayed, it should be laid to rest before it can do more harm and it’d be so, so easy to let the flame die out but that’s exactly why we shouldn’t. All it takes is one person to have hope for a better tomorrow to will one into existence. We save and leave Solaire to wallow in his self-pity all to find we can call upon him later, not knowing if he’s simply returning the favour or if he’s found new purpose in a land lacking in sunlight. We’ll never know for sure, but we do know he wouldn’t be there if we hadn’t lent him our aid when he needed it most.
Dark Souls to me, is a game about finding hope in hopeless situations, a message that hits harder than ever in the world we’re currently living in. In Elden Ring Melina says: “However ruined this world has become, however mired in torment and despair . . . life endures. Births continue. There is beauty in that, is there not?” It’s the same philosophy in Dark Souls, as it takes the whole world to let the First Flame fade away, but just one defiant hollow to reignite it, not because it’s easy but because it’s right, because the world deserves the chance to continue and do better.
Perhaps it’s all just wishful thinking and perhaps the world of Dark Souls is beyond saving but that’s what I find so compelling about it, it’s so open to interpretation. I’ve never been enamoured with a game quite like Dark Souls, and if it ever gets remade I’d be interested to see if the endings are expanded upon in any way. I’m hoping not as it’s nice to fill in the gaps how you see fit but I wouldn’t be opposed to an ending directly tied to bringing Solaire into the final battle with you, purely because I love the character so much.
I’m hoping this has explained why I’d consider Dark Souls to be my Game Of Every Year, as I genuinely don’t feel any other game past, present or future will even come close to having the impact on me that this series did. Doesn’t seem like an exaggeration to say I’ll be playing it until the day I die and still making a case for why it’s one of the greatest games ever made. I’ll go hollow before I say anything different.
Topics: Features, Dark Souls, Fromsoftware, Bandai Namco, Elden Ring