Art is defined as the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination to be appreciated primarily for beauty or emotional power. Typically, when one thinks of traditional art forms, paintings and sculptures are the first things to come to mind. However, over time, other mediums have been accepted under the art umbrella. Music, literature, and photography have, over time, been lumped into the art category and, most recently, movies and television have joined the ranks. Now, in the 21stcentury, we have a new medium that is just as large and impactful as those previously mentioned: video games.
Compared to the other forms of art mentioned, video games are most like movies and television. They combine elements of other art forms to create a new type of art. The difference between video games and movies and television, though, is how they are consumed. The participatory nature of videogames allows consumers to take a more active role in the way they interact with this particular art form. After all, they are games, but they sometimes are much more.
In this piece, I examined a specific game whose artistic qualities reach this higher plain. Today’s game, or series rather, is Dark Souls.
EMBRACE THE DARK
The Dark Souls series is challenging. They are not games most would play to relax. While this might make the series seem uninviting, it has had the opposite effect. The difficulty in Dark Souls is its main draw and it is the foundation of the fandom surrounding it.
Like all the games in this “Video Games ARE Art” series, the Dark Souls series has incredible level design, world design, gameplay mechanics, as well as other technical achievements that qualify it as art. However, I would like to do a more introspective and philosophical examination to these games. Though you may roll your eyes at this, Dark Souls seems have a far greater impact on its players than just being a good video game. Why? Dark Souls is a strong allegory for life.
You may be wondering how video games involving undead, dragons, undead dragons, and monsters that only exist in the worst nightmares of disturbed graphic artists could be compared to real life? The answer is not the specific content in the games per say, all though these do play a factor. It is more about the overall experience of the game. While this argument could be made for many other games, Dark Souls seems to set itself apart because of a few simple game design choices.
FATE OF THE UNDEAD
Unlike most modern games, the Dark Souls series does not hold your hand when you start a new play through. There’s no mini map, no difficulty settings, and no exposition heavy cutscene that tells you what to do. The only “exposition heavy cutscenes” in the series are vague at best and usually require the help of the Wiki or YouTube lore videos to fully understand.
Then the games present you with your character creation. They offer a variety of starting options for many different character types. While these starting stats can help you along the path to a certain character build, they are not binding. If you started off as a knight but in the middle of your play through decided to change to a sorcerer, that’s possible. The catch is that the game doesn’t tell you this, nor does it tell you what stats you should improve for certain builds. Once again, the Wiki and YouTube are valuable resources for this information.
When you finish creating your character and finally take control of them, you are thrown into the world with little to no guidance on what to do or where to go. The original Dark Souls is probably the harshest example as the first enemy you fight is a massive demon boss and all you have to fight it is a broken sword. This version of the fight is optional as you can choose to run away like the sensible, gallant hero that you are and from there you can gather your starting gear. Once you have it, you can go back to the boss, who you must defeat to leave the “tutorial area,” and take part in a significantly fairer battle. This whole encounter teaches the lesson that the world is punishing and that you’ll have to learn how to survive it. Fighting isn’t always the wisest option in Dark Souls.
PREPARE TO DIE
Soon after this introduction, you are presented with your preliminary objective. In most video game, the preliminary objective you receive near the start of the game guides the overall story and is ultimately leads to the endgame. However, in Dark Souls, your character’s goal is not at all defined. On the surface, you are literally told to go here and do this just because and that’s it. They are just vague directions to get your journey underway. From there, the vagueness intensifies.
None of the Dark Souls stories are told in a traditional manner. You are rarely told exactly what is going on and who everyone is. If you want all the information the world has to offer, you have to look for it in the level design and item descriptions. There are very few examples of exposition dumps without the player having to work hard for them first. In short, you are sent out into a punishing world on your own without really knowing what to do.
But you’re not alone. Along the way NPCs and other players can help you and fight by your side. There are also nefarious NPCs and players as well. These will try to trap you, take all that you have, and kill you. This adds another layer of complexity to the game, making the world feel more real and dangerous.
Upon setting out on their journey, the player discovers that the punishing intro was nothing compared to what’s ahead. You’re going to fail, a lot. In Dark Souls, this is done by the harshest punishment of all: death. However, because you are undead, you can try again, and again, and again. You will continue to take punishment and you will die over and over again, losing all your souls, humanity, and sanity in the process. Hopefully players will learn from their mistakes and better their skills. Some will become overwhelmed even with the help of NPCs and other players. These unfortunate players will quit the game. They have lost the will to go on. When this happens in the world of Dark Souls, an undead goes hollow, losing all that’s left of their humanity and becoming a mindless husk that simply acts as it did in life but without purpose.
Those that persist, however, will overcome all the challenges that at one time seemed insurmountable. For those looking for a greater challenge (or more head bashing), players can explore the games’ DLCs, which increases the difficulty and throws new challenges at those willing to face them. Through all the punishment and hardships, players persevere, all the while learning great and terrible secrets about the world and how you might fit into it.
THE FIRE FADES
Another thing Dark Souls games do that many others modern titles don’t is it autosaves your progress without giving you the option to go back to old saves. If you make a mistake by loosing an item or causing the death of a certain NPC, that mistake is permanent and the effects of it linger throughout the world. If a player manages to push through all of this, they can make it to the end of the game.
What’s interesting about the final bosses in Dark Souls games are that they are never the most difficult bosses in their respective games. No matter if you find the final boss difficult or easy however, you will be met by an ending that’s a direct result of your actions. In all the different endings you can get, there is no storybook happy ending, but there are also no sad endings either. It’s just the end, and usually the player has more questions than they did at the start. Whether or not you chose to embrace the dark or keep the world alive, your part in the game world is over.
IF ONLY I COULD BE SO GROSSLY INCANDESCANT
In real life, there are rarely true happy endings. Sure, stories have happy endings, but everyone succumbs to the same fate of death in the end. And while the end itself may not be the spectacular climax many stories have, that’s all right because the journey to get there was worth it. You started in a hostile world, not really knowing what to do. You are given vague hints and a small foundation to work with from the start. Then it’s up to you to acquire new helpful tools, build upon your skills, and learn new information to help you on your journey.
Along the way, you will encounter many faces. Some are willing to help you whilst others will show a friendly face as a mask only to turn on you once you’re no longer useful to them. Some will give up and become hollow while others will persevere, fighting to the end, failing, learning, and overcoming. You will gain much and lose much. You will be high on your successes and frustrated with your failures. If you don’t go hollow, you will push on until you reach the very end. Though the end might not be what you thought or what you hoped for, that’s okay. You went on a journey, filled with friendships, betrayals, laughs, losses, successes, and mistakes. You played a memorable game that is yours and only yours. That is why Dark Souls IS Art.