Chapter 184: Who Am I? Where Am I?
After spending an afternoon playing Dark Souls: First Flame, Tom, upon exiting the game, looked out the window at the darkening sky and couldn't help but take a deep breath.
"Truly cozy!".
This was his summary of the entire afternoon's experience. The slightly uncomfortable initial encounter with the catacombs was set aside. But after all the hard work to get to the Undead Parish on the outskirts of the city, he had only one feeling: the residents of the Undead Parish were really too welcoming.
The locals, swords and axes in hand, gave a warm welcome to the undead guests. On the way, the black knights offered a cordial hospitality.
Especially when the player arrived at the prison tower, Havel, instead of getting angry at the sudden visit of the undead, took his Dragon Tooth Massager and gave the undead a full body massage.
What the player did not know was that Alex had made some minor changes specifically for Havel. In the original game, Havel had multiple ways to defeat him, including the "Carmen" method, the item-throwing method, and the quite despicable staircase method. The simplest of these methods was to run to the top of the watchtower stairs and jump just as Havel was coming up. This would cause the player to lose health, but Havel, in heavy armor, would also lose a significant amount of health by falling down the stairs.
However, since the player possessed a healing talisman and Havel did not, Havel finally met his horrible end at the hands of the despicable undead.
Alex made some minor adjustments. After all, drinking a talisman did not immobilize the undead as in the original game. So, Havel still takes fall damage, but it has been reduced. He will also be able to get up faster than before, and the decision to jump instead of running has become more demanding, which adds a little challenge.
And finally, following the undead's footsteps to the top of the city wall is truly impressive.
Between the arrows of two zombie soldiers on the city wall, the undead enjoyed a feast, albeit a slightly scorching one.
And then, over a wide bridge behind them, a red dragon soared through the sky, sparing no expense to light a fireworks show for the undead.
"I thought I was invincible after going through the fire, but it turns out I was wrong!".
Leaning back in his chair, Tom opened the game's chat group and lamented.
Connecting with Tom's feeling, everyone sent messages.
"The same old story, this Dark Souls: First Flame is full of malice!".
"Yes, all kinds of traps, it's simply impossible to protect yourself!".
"I lost my first life in the Little Londo Ruins, in the Firelink Shrine!".
"You can't do that! I already lost my first life against that huge demon in the Undead Asylum!".
"I don't know when the teleportation function in this game will be unlocked! I'm fed up!".
"Yes, yes!".
The entire chat group was filled with laments, and everyone was telling their own tragic experiences in the game.
And it's not just these players in the group. The same scene was repeated in the main forum communities. Countless players, the first to enter the game, were lamenting.
As the first group of players to buy Dark Souls: First Flame and enter the game. Basically, they were veteran players like Tom, who had already played the previous games in the Dark Souls series.
Before entering the game, it could be said that they were full of confidence. After all, they were completely familiar with Dark Souls. Basically, they had already completed the game, or even the second, third, and eighth rounds.
These veteran Dark Souls players had incredible confidence in their skills. As skilled torchbearers, they had already overcome countless adversities.
The Nameless King, the Avatar of the Lord of Cinder, the Undead of Farron... they were mere pawns before them. Who had not been defeated by them?
For them, Dark Souls had become a dress-up and development game. So, wouldn't a prequel be a piece of cake?.
But after getting into the game with this in mind, they realized that they were wrong. And terribly wrong!
Alex largely retained the combat system of the previous game, instead of revisiting the original. After all, the original game had many action sequences that significantly impacted the player's experience, especially the requirement for the undead to stand still and drink talismans.
But the combat system was familiar to them, so what? The greatest appeal of a game like Dark Souls lies in its simple action system, which allows for a reasonable and challenging level of difficulty.
Simple normal attacks, mostly unused heavy attacks, and combat techniques that are only used in specific situations. Combined with shield blocks, parries, and rolls, the entire combat system is quite simple and easy to understand.
The real challenge lies in the various attack patterns of the bosses and monsters.
Even with completely new monsters and bosses, even if the original movement system is maintained, players will suffer if they do not know how to counter them and cannot predict the boss's attack patterns from the beginning.
And there is an even more important factor: the map of Dark Souls I.
It could be said that the most notable aspect of Dark Souls I is not the combat, the boss design, or the story. This does not mean that they are bad, but something that completely overshadows them: the exquisite level design, full of puzzles and, of course, traps everywhere.
The entire map is designed as a vast and uninterrupted whole, divided into a multi-layered three-dimensional structure, with connections between scenes that resemble a Möbius strip. And the Firelink Shrine is perfectly located in the center of the map, connecting in all directions.
Precisely for this reason, before teleporting, it is necessary to visit the bonfires and obtain the Royal Artifact. Since the entire map of Dark Souls I is interconnected, if the bonfire settings were modified so that players could freely teleport between maps, it would be difficult to enjoy the exquisite layout of the map and levels.
After all, Dark Souls III is a linear map. Without teleportation, going from one place to another would be a tedious task.
However, in Dark Souls I, the situation is completely different. The entire map is full of shortcuts, which greatly facilitates access to many places. In addition, teleporting is only possible after obtaining the Royal Artifact, which is an advantage for players.
Of course, the current players have not fully understood the complexities of the map. For most, the most intuitive feeling is:
'Who am I? Where am I?'.
On the first day of the game's release, the fastest progress was achieved by defeating the first gargoyle and ringing the first bell with the help of the Sun Knight, Sogo.
Of course, these are players with relatively strong skills, while most common players are still well received by the villagers of the Undead Parish, on the outskirts of the city.
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