Analyze the game of Dark Souls and discuss how the difficulty of the game can teach to us failure is something to be embraced. How we can learn from past failures and improve.
In addition discuss how failure can come easily despite being successful (or highly leveled) in the game, and reflect upon this metaphorically in life.
Not simply the failure in terms of game play, but also the failure in grasping any formation of plot: specifically the first time around. Looking at our first play-through versus our next; it's safe to say that the failure was the intention of the writers and developers . – CoryMacRae9 years ago
In the intro level of Dark Souls, the game makes you fail to progress. – TGoutos9 years ago
Think also of the deaths that come at the hands of other players invading your world. I am one of those who enjoys that side of the game most, relishing in the stress I put on other players as I assault them while they try to complete a level, and the intriguing feeling of success that comes from bringing about another player's failure.
– jeffevancook9 years ago
I'm not so sure that the Dark Souls series presents failure as something to be embraced. Specifically because I do not think that there is such a thing as "failure" in the Souls universe. A notable feature of the Souls games is that there is nothing like a "Mission/Quest/etc. Failed" message anywhere in the game. To my mind the message "You died" is very deliberate in its ambiguity as related to a success/failure. Within the mythos of the Souls universe, the death of any one player cannot be immediately characterized as a failure, but seems rather more fittingly described as yet another incremental step towards the completion of the cycle. Indeed, even in the extreme case where the character is confronted with an "insurmountable" obstacle in the form of an overpowering enemy, say, it is not immediately clear that s/he has failed. For in such a case, s/he will succumb to the accursed dark sign, which will in turn transform him/her into an enemy and a potential source of power for the next Undead. This is, of course, premised on taking the perspective of the character controlled by the player, and no so much the player him or herself. – HeavyMentalGamer9 years ago
Dark souls is definitely a game about learning through one's mistakes. I'd love to see this article get done, it's along the lines of something I myself have been thinking of writing about Dark Souls. – MrMuffin8 years ago
