Summary
WhileDemon’s Soulsmay have preceded it, andElden Ringmight have outsold it, there’s no arguing that From Software’sDark Soulsseries was a watershed moment in the history of contemporary gaming. These titles showed players and developers alike the potential of games with intense difficulty and complex world-building, while also spawningan entire subgenrededicated to these principles.
Dark Soulswouldn’t be so well-respected today if it wasn’t for the unique mechanics utilized by each installment. However, some of these features have split gamers on whether they add to or take away from the overall experience. Here are some of the most prominent examples ofDark Soulsmechanics that have left the fanbase divided.
8Focus Points
Innovating The Fantasy Scene…With A Mana Bar
Dark Souls 3came with a variety of changes and streamlines from earlier titles. Among them was the inclusion ofFocus Points (FP), which acted as a secondary resource bar below the health bar.They are a resource for casting sorceries, pyromancies, and miracles in-game, as well as using special weapon abilities. This finite pool of FP does not naturally regenerate, and is typically restored by Ashen Estus, which must be converted from standard HP restoring flasks.
This feature was a mainstay by theElden Ringcame about. However, at the time ofDark Souls 3’s release, the departure from a set number of spell-uses per rest, as seen in older titles, divided discourse over the game. Balancing Standard and Ashen Estus meant spellcasters and players relying on weapon skills could produce more sustained damage output, at the cost of healing capability. Some players claimed that this balanced the enhanced damage of spellcasters. Others believed spellcasters were fragile enough with all the stat investment into attunement to begin with, and the FP bar further diluted their strength.
7Curse
Always Keep Purging Stones Handy
While theDark Soulsseries is renowned for its difficulty, certain enemies or mechanics can force even hardened veterans to consider whether the trek to rekindle the Flame is worthwhile. The Curse status effect inDark Souls 1is one of those features. Gaining the status effect kills the victim, and upon reviving, they’ll find they have50% less HP than before. They cannot use humanity or kindling at bonfires, and cannot summon spirits to aid in their battles.With certain weaponsand strategies promising to trivialize the game, status effects that bleed through revivals force players to take a cautious approach to each zone.
InDark Souls 2, the Curse effect stacks. Each time it is activated, the player loses a portion of their max HP, similar to if they had just died. If a player is exposed to a Curse source for long enough, their HP will hit the cap of -50%. While the Curse effect in these games is severe, the mechanic further divided players with its de-fanged appearance inDark Souls 3.In the last game, it caused instant death upon buildup, with no further penalty.
6No Pausing
It’s Not Possible To Regroup Mid-Game
Beyondits challenging areasand hellish boss fights, even the inventory screen poses a threat to players inDark Souls.There is no pause button inDark Souls.Enemies lack the common courtesy to wait while characters search for healing items in their game menu. Many new players, being overwhelmed at the beginning of a boss battle, would attempt to pause the game, only to find they were still being wailed upon by whatever caused them such stress.
A staple of theDark Soulsseries, the lack of pausing on the inventory screen is praised by some in the fanbase as a commitment to the difficulty that makes the series so iconic. Others see it as a petty inconvenience, adding little to the depth of gameplay while isolating players who might need to take frequent or unexpected breaks from their game.
5PvP Combat
Don’t Hate The Players…
Invasions are a hallmark of theDark Soulsgames. They give players the opportunity to collect hard-to-find resources through PvP, while also engaging with an entire community built around the various factions and metas of multiplayer combat.EachDark Soulsentry has radically changed the invasion and PvP mechanics of the game before it.It’s no surprise that each entry has garnered backlash from the players who enjoyed the previous version.
Few holdDark Souls 1as the pinnacle of PvP in the series. It lacks the complexity or fluidity of later titles, and suffers from backstab spamming and a restrictive metagame. Players are split regarding the latter two titles, however. PvP inDark Souls 2was widely balanced. The slower pace and emphasis on stamina management encouraged smarter play, and punished sloppy moves. PvP was even prioritized in certain boss battles in a way that hasyet to be matchedby otherSoulstitles. InDark Souls 3, the faster and more fluid gameplay meant more dynamic battles, but metabuilds and exploits took the fun out of experimental fighting styles at high-level play.
4Group Bosses
Bosses Don’t Always Play Fair
While boss fights inSoulsgames are rarely easy, the battles that incite the most division among players arethose that feature multiple enemies at once.There’s the infamous Capra Demon, who forces players to fight dogs in tight spaces;the legendary Ornstein and Smough; and the unending hoards of the Deacons of the Deep. Some of the most controversial bosses in theDark Soulsfranchise come in twos, threes, or infinities.
By the time players encounter multiple bosses in one battle, they will understand that this game doesn’t go easy on them. But even with that mindset, players can find the odds stacked against them to be too overwhelming.
3Poise Rework
A Dramatic Change In A Fundemental Stat
In earlierSoulsgames, the Poise stat reflected how hard it was to stagger players. A knight clad in heavy armor might move or dodge more slowly, but if they took a hit, they could stand their ground. Poise was especially useful in PvP. Players could capitalize on a stagger animation, and so high poise builds could push the offensive with a bit more aggression.
In a move that caused great controversy within the community, Poise was changed to reflect a different mechanic altogether inDark Souls 3. It no longer had anything to do with stagger resistance, andinstead revolves around the player’s ability to remain in their attack animation(i.e. swinging a sword) after being attacked themselves. When not actively in an attacking state, poise did nothing for the player’s benefit, removing the virtue of wearing otherwise cumbersome heavy armor.Armor sets could still benefitthis new poise mechanic, but players were divided on whether this change was worthwhile.
2Adaptability and Agility
Improvise, Adapt, & Abuse I-Frames
Dark Souls 2hasremained the most controversialof theDark Soulstrilogy, in no small part due to its divergences from its predecessor. This is evident in a few places, but Adaptability is one of the more debated features of this title. In otherDark Soulsinstallments, the player’s i-frames, when they would be impervious to all damage when rolling, was tied to the weight of their equipment. Lighter weight meant faster rolls and more i-frames to get out of trouble.
Dark Souls 2tied i-frames to the Adaptability stat,pushing players to focus on distributing their levels into a dedicated stat for improving rolls. Adaptability fed into a player’s Agility, and their Agility determined the distance and speed of their rolls. While heavy investment in Adaptability meant better dodges and faster estus animations than any other entry in the series, base level adaptability left players' rolls and drinking animations, in general, worse than the default inDark Souls 1and3.
1Soul Memory
Fair and Balanced (?) Matchmaking
The core mechanic of matchmaking inDark Souls 2, and easily one of the most divisive features to come out of the trilogy, is Soul Memory. Rather than match players with one another based on Soul Level,Dark Souls 2matches players based on their Soul Memory: the total accumulation of all souls they have ever gained(besides regaining dropped souls after death). The intention of this feature was to ensure players were engaging in PvP with those that had accumulated a similar number of souls, and were thus on an even standing.
While some members of the fanbase embraced this, others saw this as a fatal flaw in an otherwise robust PvP system. A player that had accumulated many souls, but failed to utilize them before dying, would be paired with other players who had accumulated the same amount of souls, but had managed to put them into their stats. This actually widened the gulf of imbalanced play that the Soul Memory feature was designed to prevent.
