It was late 2012 or early 2013. The hype and curiosity about this japanese action RPG that was apparently really hard reached the PC crowd and I was just as interested as anyone else. I got it and the experience was dismaying. Games for Windows Live was always a sign of weird, unnecessary issues. The graphics were extremely "PS3" for someone used to better, and the art style didn't help. The port in itself was abysmal. I wandered around the Undead Asylum for a few minutes and decided this wasn't for me. I went back to finish Assassin's Creed 2.

Fast forward to 2014, and DS2 SOTFS comes out. I watch some gameplay on the brink of Youtube's 60fps evolution, and this game really clicks. The weight of it, the clanking of the armor, the different areas. I decide to give it a go and, barely related to this review, it blows my mind in ways I thought video games were not going to again.

The more I get into the world of Dark Souls the more I keep hearing about the first game. The original one. The real deal. The flawed masterpiece. But I also hear about the downgrade it would mean considering it's an older game. And the changes that made DS2 easier in many ways, like full teleports, infinite healing items, you know.

Curiosity got me though, and after some HD textures mods, fps unlocking and other HUD improvements I start to see it. The interconnected areas, the limited healing, ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ Blighttown (one of my favorite areas after going through it 5 or 6 times), bosses that aren't all giant knights. It has every sign of a classic. I want to play it again with a different character. I want to do NG+. I want to do PVP. I want to collect every armor set and weapon. I want to perfect the achievements.

It reminded me of the awe the mechanics of Metal Gear Solid caused on me, the fascination of ICO's castle, the sheer scale of Shadow of the Collossus' enemies. Feelings lost in modern games with too many cinematics, games were you never fail, experiences where story trumps game systems and lore is fed to you whether you like it or not.

And yeah, it's also hard. Like many games out there. Thing is, when a platformer is hard people don't flinch. But an RPG, where you're supposed to see everything, go everywhere, learn the whole story and feel like a god in the end is not supposed to be fun. Right? Well this is an RPG where the world doesn't revolve around you. You're barely powerful by the end of it. The developers don't care if you find everything, if you reach every place, or even if you fight every boss.

You're nothing but another undead, like the many ghosts around you, trying. Trying to get something, reach someplace, learn something. And that's the genius duality of Dark Souls. Never surrendering is what keeps an undead from going hollow, but it's not some scripted, acted out cinematic that shows that path. It's the player going further and further, and trying again and again when faced with what looks like impossible odds. We are the ones keeping ourselves from going hollow by not stopping.

The feeling of loneliness and despair while at the same time seeing people around you just as alone is a strange one. The sense of triumph when you banish your first invader is seldom replicated in most any other multiplayer game. And the knowledge, after beating the final boss, that you haven't seen or done even half of everything in the game is overwhelming.

It's a game of feelings. The easier one, the raging frustration, has to be overcome so you can reach the deeper, more rewarding ones. And that's a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ lot to say about a damn video game.