In fact, I’ve never really played a Souls game at all. My knowledge of the series comes from the encyclopedic knowledge of a couple of my friends, but my only previous attempt at Dark Souls fizzled out after a few hours. Having asked a Soulsborne veteran to help me with the Bell Gargoyle boss fight, their immediate success took the wind out my sails, and I eventually gave up for good somewhere in the Darkroot Basin.

That was five years ago, and even the release of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice wasn’t enough to rekindle my interest in FromSoft’s output. It’s taken the frenzy around Elden Ring to do that, but having never truly tested my affinity for a Soulslike, I was loath to spend $60 on a massive open-world that I didn’t know if I’d enjoy. So to test my mettle, I resolved to take another run at Dark Souls.

 Prepared to Die 

My first attempt meant that I knew what to expect from the first couple of hours, so I was well-prepared for the opening few fights. What I wasn’t expecting was the extent to which the original Dark Souls is showing its age. That’s not helped by the fact that I’m playing 2012’s Prepare to Die edition rather than 2018’s Dark Souls Remastered, but it’s also a sign of how far FromSoft has come. Between Dark Souls 3, Sekiro, and now Elden Ring, the Soulsborne has become a genre defined by action that feels slick and fast-paced, a reputation that even Bluepoint’s Demon Souls remaster for PS5 has added to.

By contrast, Dark Souls feels slower and more methodical; dodge-rolling requires precision, not chaotic button spamming; enemy attacks are often quick and painful, but staggers are brutal. Even the Estus Flask animation seems to take an age to complete compared to more modern alternatives. The game itself is no different to how it’s always been, but its successors have significantly altered the playing field over time.

The result of this shift, however, means that I’m discovering that my understanding of the entire series has been deeply misplaced. The bones might be a little creaky by modern standards, but so far, Dark Souls doesn’t actually seem to be particularly hard. It’s a game that punishes hubris and carelessness, and which asks that you learn from your mistakes and adapt quickly to your surroundings, but if you can operate within those boundaries it’s surprisingly forgiving. The journeys to recover your souls after death are too long for my tastes, but fortunately I rarely have to make my way all the way back to a boss fight. Taurus Demon went down first time. The Bell Gargoyles followed suit on my second attempt. Moonlight Butterfly and Capra Demon took three tries, but Gaping Dragon was down in two.

This doesn’t make me some kind of newly-emerged Dark Souls prodigy, but it’s a fascinating reassessment of a series that I’d semi-consciously steered clear of as a result of what I thought was grueling, punishing, ‘git gud’ gameplay. Some of that is already there, and I appreciate I’ve got a long way and some truly infamous bosses to go, but as I head into Blighttown, I feel confident that I’m in this for the long run. Elden Ring might be calling, but for now it’s Lordran, not the Lands Between, that’s my new obsession.

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While neither FromSoftware nor Bandai Namco has formally detailed what’s happened, rumors across both the Dark Souls and Elden Ring subreddit (opens in new tab) suggest that without intervention or a fix, “it is possible for Dark Souls 3 invaders to run code on your PC without permission. AKA RCE, Remote Code Execution. This same hack is possible in Elden Ring”.

PvP servers for Dark Souls 3, Dark Souls 2, and Dark Souls: Remastered have been temporarily deactivated to allow the team to investigate recent reports of an issue with online services. Servers for Dark Souls: PtDE will join them shortly.We apologize for this inconvenience.January 23, 2022

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“PvP servers for Dark Souls 3, Dark Souls 2, and Dark Souls: Remastered have been temporarily deactivated to allow the team to investigate recent reports of an issue with online services,” explains a notice on the Dark Souls’ official Twitter feed earlier today.

“Servers for Dark Souls: PtDE will join them shortly. We apologize for this inconvenience.”

The Verge (opens in new tab) goes further with an explanation, stating that the exploit was first publicized when a streamer was hacked via an RCE during a live broadcast. Though the hacker stopped short of providing evidence, the hacker says they had tried, and failed, to get FromSoftware to take the issue seriously. It seemingly took a livestream hacked in real-time to get either FromSoft or publisher Bandai Namco’s attention.

As of Sunday evening UK time there’s been no subsequent update, nor confirmation on when the servers made be restored. As always, we’ll keep you posted.

Did you know Elden Ring has become Steam’s most wishlisted game (opens in new tab)? All year long, Dying Light 2 has topped the chart – it reportedly knocked Cyberpunk 2077 off the perch in December 2020 and has remained there ever since – but a couple of weeks ago, From Software’s eagerly-anticipated action RPG has claimed the top spot, just a few weeks ahead of the release date of both games.

Valve doesn’t provide hard figures to substantiate the claims, so we can’t analyze them in granular detail, and Steam users have to remove their own preferences to see the unfiltered list. Interestingly enough, though, SteamDB’s own chart – which doesn’t always tally with Valve’s – intimates the same line-up.

ICYMI, a consumer survey – reportedly from Elden Ring developer From Software – has revealed a new Armored Core installment is in development (opens in new tab).

Read up on our new games 2022 (opens in new tab) guide for a complete look over all the other games launching over the next few months.

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The award was presented by two living legends in their own right: Games Workshop and Fighting Fantasy co-creators Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone. Their presence was no mere coincidence: the Fighting Fantasy choose-your-own-adventure RPG books that Jackson and Livingstone penned 37 years ago originally inspired a young Miyazaki. Livingstone called Miyazaki a “true genius of game design,” which must’ve felt great, as the pair are two of Miyazaki’s childhood heroes. “I’m such a huge fan of these two guys, I’ve almost forgotten what I was going to say,” Miyazaki chuckled.   

Speaking through a translator, Miyazaki expressed his gratitude to everyone who helped make these seminal games, and everyone who enjoyed playing them (you can watch a clip of his acceptance speech above; the full award takes place at the 49:15 mark in the full Golden Joystick Awards 2018 stream archive (opens in new tab)). “It’s such a surprise and an honor to receive this prestigious Golden Joystick award – I’m quite humbled,” he said. In addition to thanking his coworkers and family, Miyazaki had a message for FromSoftware fans: “More than anything, thank you to the players – to everyone who has played, enjoyed, and appreciated my games.”

Next up from Miyazaki and his team at FromSoftware is Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (opens in new tab), coming in March 2019, which adds grappling hook mobility to the studio’s familiar blend of brutal challenge and righteous rewards. “I plan to carry on making games for as long as I’m able, and I will do my very best to make sure that they’re games that you will enjoy,” Miyazaki pledged. “Thank you for your continued support in advance.”

Here’s the full list of all the Golden Joystick Awards 2018 winners (opens in new tab) from the show. 

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Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition will be available August 24 for digital download on PC, while the additional content will be released as DLC for consoles later this year.

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