This is by far, my favorite souls like so far.

Before I played the original Dark Souls, I had never been a big fan of 'Hack and Slash' genre video games. But I have always been up for a good challenge, so based on various friends and repeated online recommendations and notoriety of how hard it was, I decided to give it a go.

I was positively suprised by the ominous and breadcrumb esque lore in the previous iterations as well as the great amount of challenge and interesting combat these games provide.

That being said, I was hesistant again to give this one a go. But after just completing it.... It has got to be one of the best games I have played story and gameplay wise.

At first you ♥♥♥♥. Plain and simple. I had completed all previous From Soft games and I was very bad at this game still. I was dodging, waiting for an opening to attack and it would never quite present itself while I was keeping my distance, and it felt too fast paced for me. However with great persistance, this game has the best combat in a sword fighting game I have witnessed.

You really feel like with each enemy you are learning and getting better at this game. Truly capturing the real meaning in the phrase "Get Gud".

The clashing of swords, the timed parries, and the executions on enemies become smooth like butter.

Each boss fight starts with dread as you are thinking "How will I ever beat this boss" but with each attempt you learn, adapt and become better.

In Dark Souls, it feels different, you just learn when to attack, and when to dodge and abuse your opponents scripted weaknesses, but in this game, it feels like you are legit getting better and learning your opponent and how to counter them.

It's one of the best games I ever played. Great story, amazing gameplay, challenging battles, memorable moments, and superb graphics. This is a masterclass in game design. I can only recommend this game to other Dark Souls lovers and akin, even for new comers to the series. Do not shy away from the challange, as it will rob you of a beautiful experience.