Critical Close-up: Dark Souls 

George has a voice that was made to talk about death.

When you mentioned DSP and said "anyone can beat it, I mean anyone" while having him whine in the backround I subscribed INSTANTLY.. Don't know why..

"Items have to be on a body or in a box" maybe they're always on a body, and treasure chests are just dead mimics

I think Dark Souls really represents a beautiful intersection of Western and Japanese art and design philosophies. Baroque and Mono no Aware, Romanticism and Wabi-Sabi. As Shozo Kato said, "Western beauty is radiance, majesty, grandness and broadness. In comparison, Eastern beauty is desolation, humility and hidden beauty." Dark Souls is both. You have massive monuments, ornate palaces, majestic vistas and colorful forests but even in their scale they are transient. A once mighty kingdom is now abandoned, a once glorious sun is now an illusion, a once mighty fire is now fading, a once steadfast knight now hollow. Even the story is a tale of great importance and scale yet it is cannot be completely told because part of it is lost to time. Dark Souls finds the beauty in the grand and the ephemeral and shows that in many ways they are inseparable ideals.

We need more Critical Close-up episodes. This stuff is awesome.

I still remember the first time I was invaded. That singular moment was scarier than pretty much any horror game I've played and it still gives me goosebumps whenever I get invaded. Something about an unknown enemy that can appear practically anywhere can be really disconcerting.

"Its not the character leveling up, its you" - truth be told

That DSP joke...you sir deserve an high-five just for that.

Dark souls is one of the most heartwarming games I've ever played. Never imagined that I would ever say this when I first played this franchise.

Dark Souls honestly, is a fucking fantastic reflection of life.

To be fair, I discovered the thing about the Darkmoon covenant by myself. The moving stairs/elevator from Anor Londo links to a small room with a bonfire. Why put a seemingly useless bonfire? There's no use for it as a shortcut, there aren't any enemies near and it makes no sense using it having the bonfire that's been kindled by the darkmoon firekeeper on a much easier route. The game even tries to tell you THIS IS IMPORTANT by making it warpable with the Lordvessel, and it's named Darkmoon Tomb. When I found the Darkmoon Seance ring it was obvious it had something to do with that peculiar bonfire.

Dark Souls is a masterpiece.

This video's old and I'm sure someone told you by now, but Dark Souls's continuity is confusing because it's based on the director's experiences reading Western fantasy books without a strong grasp of the English language.

Loved how you showed DSP "Anyone can beat the game." Lmfao

I think I have watched this video a dozen times and every time, it follows or preceeds Matthewmatosis Dark Souls 2 Critique. These two videos are real gems.

Dark Souls did a very intelligent thing, maybe unintentionally so, but it did. In an era where the internet has all the answers, Dark Souls asked questions, and hence came answers as satisfying as ever, and almost integrated itself into the actual game. It's genius !!

You blew my mind with the comparison to Gwyn's theme

Gotta say, I really love this period of George's work. I really do enjoy his focus on a more educational view lately as well, but I often find myself going back to these really great video game essays. I am a Psych Honours grad so I can appreciate a great essay :P

This is seriously like, the definitive Dark souls video.

And not a single fuck was given about amazing predecessor of Dark Souls - Demon's Souls.... again... what a shame.

That's great, at this point he didn't know about the third area with music which is a fantastic thing to look back at

ok so I'm quite new to Dark Souls. I downloaded it years before I bought Bloodborne. I couldn't see why it was so revered by gamers and critics alike. So after 100% completion of Bloodborne I revisited it. You know what? I now know why it's loved. After I figured out that managing your stamina is key I made great progress. I've just rang the second bell and I can't wait to see the end game. Dying in Dark Souls isn't really a failure. You died because the game is trying to teach you something. Fantastic game.

We need more games that force players to try their hardest, and succeed. It's unfortunate that games today are becoming more of a business, then an opportunity to give people an experience, that goes beyond just a good story. Imagine if Bioshock had gameplay like that of Dark Souls. It would had been a much more enriching experience, in the end. But instead, the combat in Bioshock is just something you have to do, so you can gain access to watch more in-game cutscenes. It's a shame, really.

incredible analysis, hats off to you dude. Dark Souls is my favorite game of all time and you picked apart its game mechanics perfectly. Its funny, ask any super dedicated Soulsborne fan like myself and pretty much all of us will tell you that we wish we could go back to the first time we played our first Souls game, there really isnt anything else like it. I dont show too much emotion with most games but Dark Souls was a whole different story I remember when i finally beat Ornstein and Smough for the first time after like 30 tries i got up outta my couch pumped my fist and yelled fuck yeah! then proceeded to do the "well what is it?" gesture 5 times in a row. and now whenever i play it i always play with handicaps to make it so the game isnt too easy. Nothing beats that first time

Thirteen minutes into your video, I'm enjoying it so far. What I'd add to your discussion about combat in DS is this: The game makes up for not having attack combos by providing a huge assortment of weapons to find, each with their own move-sets, which are at least somewhat unique to each weapon. This fact also makes the game replayable, as you can try a different build that uses different weapons every time you play; not only when restarting as a different character, but also with the same character.

Loved the upbeat start of the video!

I keep coming back to this video because of the ending with the trailer music.

If I had 1 wish. I would wish for my memory of dark souls, demon souls, and ds2 to be erased. There is nothing like the first playthroughs.

I am simply blown away by your ability to eloquently yet clearly express your feelings on this wonderful game- it's been examined and examined, but I think your close-up here has become my favorite thoroughly fleshed-out view on my favorite game in the world thus far.

I'm at a loss for words, seriously. This is such an amazing way to experience and understand even more the world of Dark Souls. Gotta say, man, thank you. Your video made me want to go back and try this game one more time, even though I've decided not to play it again, but this was so good that I cannot play theis game again after watching this. Kudos for the amazing video.

The PvP at the beginning of the game is one sided because most of the guys that invade at this low level are troll that get super powerful gear, either by cheating (Cheat Engine) or being super good (getting everything while staying at SL10) just to piss people off. It's kinda sad but hey, Prepare to Die.

And I like how the pvp footage is mostly against twinks in Burg and Parish. Unfortunately that's the introduction majority of people get about Dark Souls pvp, useless jamokes who need full giant set in Burg to not die against SL10 newbies in unupgraded wanderer sets. Keep in mind kids, those are griefers, they're useless scrubs who can't play worth jack so they take it out on newbies by oneshotting them with a ridiculously unfair equipment advantage. The pvp is actually awesome and one of the highlights of the game.

Perhaps the best video about Dark Souls on RU-vid! I wish there was one about Demon's Souls. I'm replaying it once again and see if I'm finally capable of finishing it.

The Zelda analogy is pretty good. I like to think of DS as the "mature" version of Zelda. Gameplay-wise they arent that different (exploration, combat, puzzles). And the themes can be quite similar (rebirth, decay, endless struggle) .. after all, in Zelda, the bad guys wins all the time at game start, and often a hero victory at the end doesnt stop the "world" from falling into ruin/decay later in time (sequels and timeline show this). The hero is always reborn, he always have to fight big G (who never really dies, just inconvenienced for a time) and Z has do be involved somehow. We see several sentient species and civilizations disappear. We often see the same secondary characters making a comeback too, like they are stuck in that rebirth cycle. There are "godesses", but they don't really care. They either destroy some more (WW) or fail utterly at protecting the land (most other games) from "evil". They seem to be behind the rebirth cycle and that might mean they actually go out of their way to destroy hyrule (or wherever else) to force a rebirth cycle. The best they can do is stall for time for the hero to pop.. (and that's a maybe, plus its likely under their control) or they do that whole setup for far darker reasons.

I clicked off of this video after a few seconds long ago because I wanted to see a video essay critique and got low quality footage of a nerd spouting a monologue in a graveyard down the block from his house. Finally caught back up with your channel and I'm glad I gave it another chance, your content is so intelligent and thought-provoking! Keep up the great work, George!

This video deserves much more views. You can see the time and effort put in it. And there's a very inspiring message at the end. Marvellous work.

Great video but the game wasn't necessarily designed to be difficult it was more immersion based. Letting you feel like you were living in a hostile world with death around every corner.

"Anyone can beat the game... and I do mean anyone" then you show a clip of dsp. that was the moment that made me subscribe to you

This is probably the best video on Dark Souls as a piece of art out there, and maybe the best Dark Souls video in general. Your channel is awesome, keep up this hell of a good work man.

You know I seem to watch those close ups over and over because I can't find anything else of equal quality. It's kind of like Snake Eater.

The vagueness of the storytelling realistically contributes a lot to the richness of the world for me. I don't understand every piece of lore and history of Dark Souls but I know it's out there to learn; I'm just playing as a character who exists in the world. It's just like how I don't know every little thing and historical event of our current reality, I just live in it.

4 years later still one of the best analysis I've seen for this game.

This was the best review I have ever seen, your always so thorough and on-point. You made me love the game even more.

Dark Souls is definitely hard but not THAT hard, you just have to learn to play by the games rules. Hell, if fucking DSP was able to finish it then anyone can.

Jesus christ this is like one of the most thought out and well constructed videos i've ever watched on youtube. Keep up the amazing work

Should do a close of up Silent Hill 2!

this reupload is just a reason for me to watch this great review of one of the best games of all time again. love your work x)

holy shit this video is amazing

The Ash Lake music at the beginning got me hooked instantly.

I'd like to see a critical close up for Dark souls 2 and 3 as well, and even BloodBorne (though I've understand if you feel as though you covered enough with this)

This video put into words what I couldn't describe before. It helped me with setting into a mindset not only about Dark Souls but life itself. And I want to thank you for this. I've come back to this video a number of times throughout the years and always came out bolstered. Praise the Bunnyhop.

Super Bunnyhop is my favorite channel on youtube right next to Angryjoe and ProJared :P Awesome work dude!

Since I didn’t see anyone mention it after briefly scrolling through the comments, the curse of the undead is a curse because when you cannot die, everything eventually losing meaning. If you cannot continue to find purpose, you go hollow, and it is only a matter of time until everyone loses purpose as you either complete all your goals or through yourself at an insurmountable goal until it breaks you. This is when the sense of self evaporates along with your memories and your sanity.

Your Critical Close-up inspired me to do my own Dark Souls video: Dark Souls: The Exploration of Death Keep up the good work!

Still probably my favorite game ever. So hype for the third one. I only picked it up a little under a year ago in a steam sale, and that was thanks to EpicNameBro and Vaatividya. See, I'd heard about Bloodborne and how much everyone liked it, and I was almost immediately captivated by everything about it. The lore, the gameplay, the weapons, the animations, the atmosphere, the graphics. I didn't have a PS4 so I needed to vicariously experience it through ENB, and get as much lore explanation as I could from Vaati. While I waited for his lore videos I watched some of his older stuff, a few videos of which I had already seen a while before, and came to the conclusion that I needed to experience Dark Souls for myself. So when a sale came around I did. And it was one of the best, most captivating experiences I've ever had. It helped that I got it near the start of summer so I could devote an ungodly amount of time to it every day.

I would say you summed the first game up in a spectacular way that I feel you were right on the money with every point. I spent 3 years straight playing this game so I can listen to this video and confirm that everything is valid and I am now a fan of your reviews. More close-ups of the other Soulsborne games would be pretty sweet,but I honestly think you captured the Soulsborne series as a whole with just this one video. Thanks and Good Luck in blowing away our expectations.

...Fuck it. I'll watch this again.

wow, so I've been watching all the videos in chronological order from the beginning, and the production value just went through the roof right from the intro !

I wanted to ask this last time it was posted but... What is the music at 29:30? The 'Prepare to Live' music, is it from Dark Souls? I don't seem to remember it at all.

Loved not only the analysis here, but your actual setup and editing with the intro with footage from the game....simply marvelous. You should try Demons Souls too, it is my favorite of the series (tough as nails too) but really rewarding. Guess we can expect a DS2 review once the PC version arrives too

the leveling mechanics and damage system work completely diffrerently than what is illustrated in this review. It's easy to see why it was incorrectly seen this way. Also, you can speed up certain attacks by leveling dexterity to 45 points. This speeds up casting, removes stumbles from longer weapons (halbard class in particular), and if you look at weapon scaling, some scale better with dex or str, or even int/faith depending on enchantment. So, if you don't look at ALL the stats, and figure them out, you'll never get the level adjustment figured out for some of the most powerful weapons in the game. For instance, the difference between a bog-standard great scythe, and a +10 (NOT RAW) G. Scythe with high dex are simply insane (which makes this weapon on the of the best 'dex' weapons on the game, also the 45 dex will remove a stumble animation on misses...) Dark Souls is incredibly deep in its leveling system, and someone who says that leveling has little to no effect fell into the trap of the Raw Weapon buff, or weapons that do not scale with stat. Conversely, magic damage and miracle damage can scale to an incredible degree with those stats. This is where your glass cannons come from.

It shows that you put a lot of time into your videos, in-depth analysis in an entertaining way

'Nuance' is this guy's favourite word I swear

This is the best and most concise explanation of WHY Dark Souls will be the greatest game I have ever played. The themes, concepts, gameplay, and underlying truths relate to real life in a way that is relative, yet not overt. I was one of those players who collected every single item in the game so that I could have all the bits and pieces of lore. I explored every environment and watched youtube videos (like EPICNAMEBRO's videos) and I read people's individual take on the events in the story. This is a high quality video. Very, very well done!!

Walks up to fire keeper to level up flask. *DEAD* [OK] ; _ ;

Can I just gush that I have seen this video half a dozen times and every time the music swells during that final long speech I get pumped and inspired and feel goosebumps... You're the man for that.

Also the link to chests and corpses with items, you can drop items fine on the ground to share with your invaders or co-op friends or just to be rid of them. I think it's just that everything not stuck in chests or in use by people have just been pillaged already long ago.

Crazy to see just how far the series has come.

I completely agree with your statement on majoras mask I always say dark souls is similar to zelda

I’m so glad this isn’t one of those videos that just say “Dark Souls isn’t hard”, and then go on to explain why it’s hard

I have mixed feelings about this. Some comments were insightful and showed that a good deal of thought was put into making this video. But then other comments were demonstrably false, and made me wonder how you could have missed what I found obvious. I guess that leads well into one of your main points, though: This is a game that requires cooperation to really get the best experience. Two people will perceive the game differently, and by sharing their knowledge they come to a greater understanding.

One of the things I wished you touched on, especially in your 4th part (which was fantastic), is the meta-narrative that Dark Souls pushes. The core idea of hollowing (or, that beef jerky looking state that you start in at the beginning of the game). Undead are marked with the dark sign, and upon death are resurrected, losing gained souls and humanity, but more importantly (kind of), start hollowing. This in turn, ties into the very nature of what the game is trying to convey with difficulty, and tries to tell a story of the player themselves. During your journey throughout, you meet other undead who are trying to desperately hold on to their humanity and their purpose in life. Be it just being a lowly merchant, because they could not progress any further in Sens Fortress, keeping themselves from going fully hollow solely by remembering how to count; or teaching and learning the mysteries of pyromancy, only to go fully hollow when your student surpasses you with the earliest and most powerful pyromancies; or to realise maybe you weren't the chosen undead from the prophecy, and pass the torch onto the last undead in the Asylum with some semblance of humanity, in hopes that they will fare better in the world; or even to sit at the Firelink Shrine, and deter other future "chosen undeads" from the prophecy with cynical attitudes to the world and its rules, only to lose yourself to hollowing as a result of seeing the prophecy actually be fulfilled by someone; or even after thinking you've found your sun you've been searching for for all this time, only for it to have been a bit of shining light in the darkness. Hollowing isn't the result of dying a few times without humanity. Its the result of lost purpose. Your character cannot go hollow, as long as you are playing the game. Dying, over and over; you might feel tempted to stop playing, give up and say that you don't want to finish the game, however in doing so, you've let the game win (in a very convoluted sense). Your purpose and humanity is there, as long as you still have a will to carry on further into the game. The inevitable darkness only really consumes when the game has been turned off for good. This theme can be applied to aspects of real life as well. Don't you dare go hollow.

I played the game as a mage and I didn't know much about leveling gear ( In fact I never did it ) so I'm playing against as a warrior and seeing how different gear upgrades make the game. Playing the game as a glass cannon was still super hard for me because I could literally get 1 shotted by a boss.

Man I'm hooked on his videos. It's just such thought out and intelligent reviews.

What an amazing break down of a truly unique! Onward to dark souls 3!!!

The sound design in Dark Souls 1 is just so captivating, you could be standing still and hear nothing but the sounds of a bonfire and the wind howling through the environment. Then you open up your menu-GOD DAMN those menu navigation noises have stuck with me ever since I've played and I cannot unhear them. Then I tried PVP-ing, ofcourse I got my ass kicked in any fight, whether I was invaded or I became the invader. But no matter which side I was on, my heart would literally start to pump faster. You don't know who your enemy is, and once you meet them for the first time it felt like time would stop. The combination of complete silence, the noise emitted by a red phatom almost as if they were breathing, and the click-clack of the hosts armor really riles me up. Sadly Dark Souls 2&3 never came close to recreating these eargasmic experiences, idk about BloodBorne tho

Goddamn you didn't change the curse part. It's a curse because after death you lose a little of your memories and a little of yourself. You feel the pain of the steel dessecrating your skin and the fire burning your bones, after you reappear you remember that and lose part of your sanity. After a long cicle of death and return you turn hollow, after you die as a hollow, you don't reborn.

I enjoy watching your videos simply because it is quite clear you truly love the video gaming experience, and your content reflects this 100%. Good stuff!

My theory. I think the proper ending to the game is where all character arcs (side quests) are completed. *SPECULATION* Meaning that Solaire fights Gwyn along side you. If Solaire kindles the first flame, then YOU become the king of the new land. In Dks2 they say Vendrick slayed the 4 "old ones" and took over. If that's the case then doing the proper ending to dks1 and naming your character Vendrick would make the most sense. Vendrick still becomes the king of men, but the age of fire continues. This would explain the sun shield having an image of Solaire on it, because nobody EXCEPT the Chosen Undead (Vendrick) would know who he is. This explains how people know about Pharis, or the name Havel. Maybe I'm overthinking it. But this would explain a bunch of stuff if only it wasn't so far fetched.

You had me at the Majora's Mask comparisons. Good find!

You can restore the Firekeeper's tongue?!

Wait... where does Demon Souls fits? Because I know is the spiritual prequel, but was it designed with the same philosophy behind it? Or was it just incidental (don't think so but still asking) I also heard Demon Souls was... harder? But I have no idea about it.

18:52 Unlike the real world with it various religions, it is inappropriate to call it a creation _myth_ in this game, because the game has told us it is true. 22:28 Not true. You can put down items yourself, or pick up items that other players have dropped for you.

Finishing Dark Souls as a level 1 is one of the greatest senses of accomplishment I've ever experienced in a game. It is probably my favorite game of all time.

Critical close up of majora's mask please. Pretty please. Pretty please with a cherry on top

I've been putting off buying this game for a long time because of the difficulty factor. Your video not only has convinced me to pick it up, but has me excited to do so. Thank you.

What an awesome video. For someone who sunk about 400 h in Dark souls 1 & 2 this little movie just shows me why I love this game series so much.

Good shit man. Speaking as a long time fan of the souls series, you have summed it up quite well, and found some interesting parallels that I hadn't thought of. Good work. This was worth the length of the video :).

As far as I know environmental story telling has been around since Metroid Prime (2002).

This is honestly one of the most interesting and entertaining videos I've watched in a quite a while. Consider me subscribed!

You got some real talent man. I love your videos. All of them. Can you tell me how you came up with the name super bunnyhop?

that last 2 minutes was a powerful poem to me, you just win a subscriber sir

Glad to see this vid improved a lot from the original.

Great video. The part about how the multiplayer aspect changes the whole feel of the game is something I've been trying to articulate since Dark Souls 2 came out and I got to play one of these with actual WORKING multi for the first time in the series. Really enjoyed the explanation on how much thought went into making it feel the right kind of hard too. Also Sanic Speedo is a legit character name.

This is a really well put together video, but I am missing theBerserk references in it. A lot of the designs in the Souls games are very reminiscent of that manga, especially Artorias.

That ending have me shivers down my spine, it was just perfect. Don't know why I watched the video originally, I'm a die hard Dark Souls fan and that ending was just so great.

It takes a lot of brains not to have lots of subscribers it seams. Fantastic video like all the others! thank you!

I've never heard song of healing and plinplinplon b2b before and it's the same melodic motif, how have I never made that connection before.

This isn't MGS4 Critical Close Up!

This is the one essay I come back to from time to time to remind myself that there's sense and beauty in the struggle. This is also one of the best videos shattering the "easy mode or bust" argument.