Progress Report - I have branched off and explored more after failing at the Basin and the Garden. Found a new section of the Burg to explore.
The game is turning a corner, with some resistance. I'm starting to find more and more of what makes Dark Souls a game that so many people like. The general gameplay loop is starting to sink in, and each life is falling into a familiar rhythm. Find path, explore, get surprised by new [thing], die. Return to new space, explore, overcome [thing] repeat. It's an addicting cycle that gives a good sense of both intrinsic and extrinsic rewards. The intrinsic reward of saying "Hell yes, I can now clear this area consistently with only using one flash, instead of the 7 it took the first time" is a cool-ass reward itself. When you add the extrinsic reward of just general 'progress', you have a good feedback loop.
The intrinsic reward is what's important here, because it's a fine line between that "Finally!" and "Finally...". The line between excitement over the progression, and dogged frustration at getting past an obstacle is something that I think Dark Souls gets right more often than it doesn't, so far.
For example, the times I bashed my head against the Gargoyles, before I got my movement and dodging patterns right led to an exuberant "Finally". My experiences in both Darkroot areas is bordering on the ragged "finally" of never having to see those areas again.
This vaguely touches on the first thing I want to talk about today. The Engagement Curve. In games, movies, or media in general, we deal with an engagement curve. This curve is a general line for the intensity or how engaged we should be for any given moment in the movie. If something is constantly escalating, you quickly burn out, because the energy levels keep rising and rising and eventually you cannot keep up.
Think about a concert set that is laid out like this. The first song is one of the popular tracks of the artist, one everyone knows. This gets people into the show and amped up and they go along with it. They follow this up with one of their newer tracks, one that isn't quite as popular or as beloved. This takes the energy down a peg, to let people recover. Depending on the overall arc they want the show to have, they could peel it back a little more, but with a shorter song. If you put two long songs back to back, people could start to feel that the show is starting to "Drag". After the step back, you kick the energy up again. In the penultimate track, you play a longer ballad, before finishing with your biggest, most bombastic track you've got left.
In Dark Souls, your engagement curve is on a shorter timeline. Thing explode into a flurry of action, then you have a beat when either you die or everyone else in the area dies. This repeats ad infinium, with big spikes coming from ambushes, one-off traps, or boss fights.
I want to compare this to the engagement curve of a different game I've been playing lately: Persona 5. There are two tiers of play in Persona. The first is your Adventure-y, dungeon dive-y, turn-based RPG stuff. This has your typical curves of spiking once combat starts, and dropping once you end the fight. It gradually works its way up as you burn through resources and go through the attrition of exploration. The final spike comes with the boss fight and conclusion of the arc. When you're not in the dungeons, your engagement curve is much shallower, with your spikes coming from interacting with your named PCs and advancing the plot, with the come downs coming during transitions, interstitial text message or class scenes, or even just shopping for supplies. The game gives you a very clear indicator when you're switching from one form to another aesthetically. Not only do the dungeon areas look twisted and warped and use a darker palate than the regular world, but the music changes its tones and palates, and your characters get entirely new outfits that automatically get equipped.
Knowing engagement curves help keep you from burning out or from getting too bored with the game. It's a good tool to know for anyone looking to tell a story as well. It's fascinating how the different genres attempt to engage their audiences. Hell, the engagement curve might even be a determining factor in what the genre is!
The other thing I want to talk about with Dark Souls is the level design. The map folds back onto itself in an interesting and clever way. Honestly, it's one thing I want to praise the game for. With how much you're moving around areas, and moving from zone to zone, it's really easy for you to lose your mental compass and map. Then the game pulls a trick that takes advantage of that.
I mentioned earlier that I was in the Berg, and mentioned a section near a Bonfire called the Napalm Superhighway. That bonfire is pretty special so far, as the game has doubled back onto that place 2 times. You can access it through normal progression, then after clearing one area, you drop a ladder that takes you back there. Then, after more tricky navigation and advancement, a nearby door that was locked opens, and you can now access your new area from that same bonfire. This works so well because the game uses twisting landscapes and paths, and verticality as part of the advancement. You get so twisted around by making little turns and going up and down elevation, that you don't notice that you're so close to a previous area you've explored. The Elevator in the church is a great example of this.
This doesn't work if the game has a map. Full stop.
If the game gives you a map of some sort, like you might expect a game of this nature to give you, this sort of design wouldn't carry the same impact. It would still be clever, and good design, but it would not be such a relief to unlock a random door that you saw earlier, right next to a safe location. Not having a map can be frustrating though, especially when you don't know where to go.
Long story short, more games can do more with less like this.
I'm turning a corner with the game. I'm having some fun, it's enjoyable enough, and I have some options when things get too tough. The game is still difficult for me, and makes some design choices that I'm not super keen on, but I'm current feeling alright with my decision to play this game. If I stop right now, and never play another second, I'd consider the Remaster a decent value at $30.
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