Considered one of the most frustrating gaming experiences of all time, Dark Souls has definitely earned its reputation. Now I know what you’re thinking, why review a game released in 2011 now?

The answer: Dark Souls 3.

In order to prepare yourself for the probably “Soul”-crushingly hard adventure that will haunt you come March 24, why not get a fresh outlook on the heart of the series, the original Dark Souls.

Upon my original attempt at completing the game, Dark Souls tossed what drive I had to complete the game into the garbage, where I quit after logging in an extremely frustrating 23 hours.  Recently, in preparation for the next installment in the series, I dove back into the Souls game that I so rapidly failed at before. Starting the game anew, I brought a clean slate to what would become an angered slab.

Dark Souls starts off easily enough, allowing you to create your own character before plunging into a dark atmosphere and slowly teaching you the base mechanics of the game.

Progressing through the beginning of this game it appears quite a bit more forgiving than one would perceive with all the ruckus about how challenging the game is. It appears that the game is really just a game of timing your attacks, blocks, and dodges.

Do not let the beginning of this game fool you.

After completing what is considered to be the tutorial for players, you’re thrust into a new area, given only a couple lines of dialogue stating your objective: Go ring some bells. With barely any sense of direction you begin to wander, proceeding to be completely destroyed by enemies that are too dangerous for you at the moment. Once you begin upon the correct path you learn that even when statistically equal the game is set up for your failure.

Such is the nature of a game like Dark Souls.

While the game is hard, I would say that the game play is fantastic. While it does have poor hit detection (taking damage from enemies when you’re behind objects) the game performs well in strategy. To defeat your enemies, especially the many bosses you will encounter, you will need to evaluate what attacks they perform, how they move, and how to avoid them. The game becomes a complex series of when to attack and when to avoid, which with the many forms of combat available in the game combines to form a system of game play to remember. Challenging, but rewarding.

While the game is highly renowned for its difficulty, a main complaint that players have is that the game focuses more on making the game difficult, rather than making the game entertaining and fun for the

player. Evidence for this is given later in the game, specifically after a certain boss battle. The game goes from escalating challenges to “Complete Bul#@$&t.” While I haven’t myself reached this point in the game, I can understand the anger driven at the game, blaming the game for my inability to progress further. The amount of times my deaths in the game have been blamed on myself correlate with the amount of joy I receive from death, not at all.

Even through all the either horrible or fantastic points of the game, everyone can agree on one thing. The story and atmosphere of the game are beyond amazing. Not many games can quite soak you into its world. The dark, heavy, and sad atmosphere of the game combined with the epic and chilling music during some of the boss fights completely envelope the player. The story, while vague and seemingly shallow, engulfs the player in its depth of meaning and background lore to everything in the world of Dark Souls.

Dark Souls is one of gaming’s most frustrating and rewarding experiences. It surrounds the player in the excitement, and kinks, of its combat as well as the environment of its world and story it, eventually, succeeds to tell. A fantastic game that is a must-attempt for everyone who enjoys a challenge. With the player feeling accomplished upon their achievements and failures, and praising the sun, Dark Souls leaves an impression.

Lets just hope that Dark Souls 3 can capture that same feeling as its predecessors come March 24th.