1. How did you initially react to the first Souls game you played?
Instantly fell in love. The atmosphere and weighty-ness just hooked me.
3. If you do enjoy this series, what are the reasons why?
I love that the games are both highly rewarding and very punishing, both in their combat and exploration. I love the "metroidvania" thing, as it feels like a large world built with a 16-bit mindset, in contrast to most of my experiences with open world games. I love the setting, atmosphere, scarce dialogue, all that good stuff.
4. What's your greatest and/or worst memory of playing a Souls game?
There are a lot of great memories for me. I remember early on in Dark Souls, my introduction to the series, exploring an area that I was certain was not meant to be explored (In Firelink, near the beginning), only to be rewarded hugely for doing so. Probably the most frustrating moment, in the same game, was Sen's Tower. It felt just a
little too cheap while learning.
5. What's your preferred build and weapons style?
I am a BIG ASS SWORDS dude, in any game where I am given the opportunity. So, I tend to aim for being able to 1H a 2H bladey thing, preferably with some sweet effect on it, while having a shield up for footsies (Bloodborne aside, ofc)
6. Do you believe the Souls games have been influential on modern gaming, or do they stand alone?
I'm not up to date on modern gaming in general, so I'm not sure if its had an influence on AAA games. I do know that some games have taken the formula (NioH, that cyber game, Lords of the Fallen), and indie gaming most definitely seems to have been inspired.
Aside from its specific design decisions, though, I think the message has been delivered that "Nintendo Hard" games are still viable, and handholding isn't necessary.
7. What's your opinion(s) of the various DLC packages available?
Oddly, I waited until both complete versions of DS2 and DS3 were available, to have all DLC on disc... and have yet to touch the dlc content of any of the games.
8. Do you believe the reputation of extreme difficulty in this series is warranted or overstated?
Certainly overstated. The games are punishing of missteps, but are only moderately difficult when starting. The biggest factor in difficulty from there is the player, as I tend to find these games cripple under a solid character build (Not speaking to what I would call optional difficulty, in which you make builds in order to challenge yourself. There is certainly high difficulty to be had here if one wants)
9. Which Souls game do you believe is the best thus far?
My favorite two games are Dark Souls and Bloodborne. I think Bloodborne is probably "The Best"
10. If you could make one change to the Souls formula, what would it be?
This might not be within the spirit of the question, but knowing that they are done with Dark Souls for now, I want to see them use a similar formula to explore a sort of post cyber punk world. The distopian atmosphere would work really well in this setting (Granted, as a raving fan of stuff like Ghost in the Shell, Blade Runner, Akira, Alien, etc, I am heavily biased). Not a straight booming cyber city though, but a run down, once-was sort of place, preferably with some Giger-esk fusion of the unknown with technology.
(Totally Optional Question: How many Souls games have you beaten, and what's your opinions of them?)
Dark Souls - Just lovely. Aside some mechanical quirks that would later be ironed out, I think this game just nails everything. Again, some bias may be in place, as this was my first exposure to the series, with little hype or anything, so it just blew me away. I think I have the entire world of this game memorized.
Dark Souls 2 - Still quite fun. Mechanically, this feels the most fleshed out, with tons of different viable builds and crazy weapons, a bit of faster movement, all that. The world connection felt weaker to me, though, and less natural. I didn't feel alost in a sea of wonder as I did in the first. I imagine that, for anyone that pvps, this game would score high, but the pvp isn't for me. (I intentionally play offline to avoid those hint things)
Dark Souls 3 - My least favorite of the series, mostly because it takes steps back towards the first, but ends up falling somewhere between 1 and 2. A lot of zones that just felt too familiar and samey. There wasn't a "wow factor" to finding a poison marsh or something, when I had already done so in previous games. Its not that the game is bad, none of them are, but it felt like it was running out of ideas. It also feels not entirely finished. I do like adding abilities to weapons, though! Very cool concept.
Bloodborne - This, imo, is the perfect sequel to Dark Souls. It keeps the spirit of the game most intact, even more than its actual sequels, while not coming off as tried and tired, due to its fresh setting and revamped combat mechanics. If I had to pick an objective best, this is it. Its lore is fantastic, the world is gorgeous, the combat advancement was brilliant. It just blows my mind that they so flawlessly updated their combat to move players towards what they thought the most fun method of play would be, without being restricting at all. Genius stuff.
I have not played Demon's Souls.
