Kyle BoltonITGM 402

Professor Dodson

Deconstruction of Dark Souls

Dark Souls is an action adventure role-playing game that is known for its steep difficulty curve. The game resolves to reward players who play carefully and observationally, while punishing those who run recklessly into the unknown. Because of this, the game tends to instill new players with tremendous sense of trepidation, as they learn that hidden information is typically synonymous with danger and deceit.

To put it simply, Dark Souls is a game that revels in its harshness. Despite this harshness, the game succeeds in being fair: all it asks of the player is to understand the fundamental rules of the game system. As players progress through the game, they will come to understand that the fundamental core of Dark Souls revolves around risk versus reward and trial-and-error. For this paper, the narrative conceit, combat system and world design will be deconstructed.

Genre and Narrative ConceitBefore delving into the design of Dark Souls, it is first important to establish the aesthetic direction of the game, so that the intended user experience can be clearly defined. Dark Souls is a fantasy action-role playing game in which players take upon the role of an undead warrior (a hollow) who travels through the dilapidated kingdom of Lordran. Fairly early in the game, a voice over informs the player that their hollowed warrior is destined to reignite the flames of the kingdom, bringing it out of its misery. Through this extremely vague exposition, the overall game goal is established: explore the game world in order to find a solution to its problem.

Upon beginning the game, a brief cinematic is given which provides narrative backstory of a war against an army of dragons and the five Chaos Lords accompanied by Lord Gwyn. To be blunt, it’s all fairly incomprehensible, almost to the point of it being intentional. Indeed, it is apparent that the designers of the game intentionally withhold information for two key reasons:

• Players are told enough information to understand why the land is so ravaged and full of dangerous creatures. The world of Dark Souls is full of things that will kill the player.

• The tale of an undead warrior who fights these monsters reinforces the trial and error nature of the game. First-time players will be defeated several times, but they are undead, so death is only a temporary punishment.

Everything else, such as the backstories of supporting characters, the narrative implications of items or even the environmental purpose of each area is left for the player to discover or infer on their own accord.

Resources of Dark SoulsThe amount of resources available to the player in Dark Souls is very extensive, so much so that covering every individual resource is out of the scope of this paper. Instead, this paper covers the minimum resources that are crucial to Dark Souls’ core system: Health, Stamina, Souls, Humanity, the player’s Level, and the Estus Flask. Naturally, there are several other resources, such as Weapons, Armor, Sorceries, Rings, Arrows, and Items but those will be covered in much less detail.

As the diagram above demonstrates, Health is the central resource unit of Dark Souls. Health controls how much damage the player and their opponent’s can withstand before being defeated. Therefore, it can be inferred that health is a very valuable commodity in the game. Its value is furthered by the fact that every other resource, either directly or indirectly, is affected by or has an affect on Health.

When the player is punished, it is generally fairly harsh, as new players can very easily be defeated in one to three hits. This punishment is so harsh because players are expected to learn from their mistakes. If the players continue to make the same mistakes, then the game will continue punishing them.

Stamina is also a very crucial resource, as it dictates what decisions the player can make at a given time. Most actions require Stamina; if Stamina is depleted, then that action cannot be made. If the player is not performing any Stamina-depleting actions, then this resource will refill on its own. This effectively limits the amount of actions that a player can safely make during combat; if the player does not have enough stamina, then they will not be able to defend themselves.

Both of those resources are fairly standard for this type of game. However, they way they are impacted by Dark Souls’ more unique resources is very important to discuss. Upon defeating any adversary, the player will gain Souls, which is Dark Souls’ form of currency and experience. Players can use Souls to buy new Weapons, Armor, Sorceries, and Items, or they can use the Souls to level up, both of which make the player more potent in combat.

Humanity is similar to Souls, in that they can be achieved from enemies. However, it is fairly rare to obtain Humanity from common enemies, as there are only a handful of unique enemy types that actually drop Humanity. Instead, players will gain Humanity from defeating area bosses, which are much harder to defeat. The rarity of Humanity is justified by the affects it has on the player. For one, Humanity correlates with the multiplayer component of the game, which is out of the scope of this paper. Secondly, Humanity is capable of boosting the player’s stats, restoring the player’s health to maximum, or increasing the maximum number of Estus Flask uses.

The effects of Humanity is difficult to understand without first realizing that it can actually be classified into two distinct categories, which the Dark Souls community have identified as “soft” Humanity and “hard” Humanity. Hard Humanity is a usable item that, upon use, is converted into soft Humanity. Upon conversion, the player’s Health will also be fully restored.

Differences Between Humanity ClassificationsDifferences Between Humanity ClassificationsSoft Hard

Dropped upon depletion of health Not dropped upon depletion of health

Boosts player stats. Additive effect - the more Humanity the more potent. Does not boost player stats

Not a usable item. Amount of soft Humanity held by the player is shown on the HUD.

Usable item that restores player Health to max. Amount of hard Humanity held by the player can be found in the player’s inventory.

The caveat to Souls and Humanity is that, if the player’s Health is depleted, they will “drop” all of their Souls and soft Humanity near the position in which they were defeated. Hard Humanity will not be dropped, however. This directly correlates with Dark Souls’ risk-versus-reward design. Should the player risk holding a lot of soft humanity that could be lost upon death? Should the player carry a large amount of souls with them, or use them as soon as they can to

minimize risks. Players that skillfully protect their risked resources will be rewarded with greater combat efficiency. If they fail to protect these resources, then they will be punished by losing those buffs.

If players manage to hold onto their acquired Souls and Humanity until they reach a Bonfire, which serve as checkpoints in Dark Souls, the player will be able to spend those resources to increase their battle capabilities.

When spending Souls to level, players must choose a stat to increase. Which stat they increase will determine how their character develops. It is important to note that, no matter what stat is leveled up, the player’s defenses will increase, which makes it difficult, if not impossible, to completely waste Souls. Leveling a stat will increase the player’s overall Level, which has an effect on the multiplayer component of the game. The higher the player’s level, the more Souls that will be needed to increase a stat. Having the player’s health depleted will not reset their level.

Stat Leveling EffectsStat Leveling EffectsStat Level Up Effect

Vitality Increases player’s maximum health

Attunement Determines the amount of Sorceries that the player can equip at one time

Endurance Increases the player’s maximum Stamina, maximum Equipment Load, and resistance to Bleeding

Strength Increases attack power for weapon’s that scale with this stat. Also enables the player to use higher level weapons.

DexterityIncreases attack power for weapon’s that scale with this stat. Increases the

casting speed of Sorceries. Also enables the player to use higher level weapons.

Resistance Increases the physical, flame and poison resistances.

Intelligence Increases Sorcery power. Also enables the player to use higher level Sorceries.

Faith Increases Miracle (a subset of Sorcery) power. Also enables the player to use higher level Miracles.

Increasing any stat will increase the player’s defense statistics.Increasing any stat will increase the player’s defense statistics.

The last major resource that requires in depth discussion is the Estus Flask, which is a usable item that restores the player’s Health. Player’s can only use the Estus Flask for a limited amount of uses, and once it has been exhausted they must return to a bonfire to restore the Flask. At the Bonfire, players can use a soft Humanity to kindle the Bonfire, which will increase the amount of Estus uses the Bonfire will reward the player. Bonfires that are not yet kindled will only provide five Estus swigs, while kindled Bonfires will reward ten swigs. Once again, this comes back to the risk-versus-reward nature of the game, where players must decide if they want to spend a valuable Humanity point to increase their healing capabilities.

Decisions Made in CombatFor this paper, the scope of the analysis on player decison will focus mainly on how the player’s decisions during combat are affected by the resources available to them. There are certainly other decisions that can be made, such as what class the player starts as, what equipment is being carried, what items to use, when to cast sorceries, long-range versus close-range combat, and of course the multiplayer component of the game. These are all topics that could be featured as a singular deconstruction, and are unfortunately out of scope.

The combat process of Dark Souls has been broken down into the above state machine, which is initiated by an attacking agent, heretofore called the Attacker. The defending agent, which for conversational purposes can be assumed to be the player, must then determine what action would be best for their current situation. If the player fails to take action, is unable to make an action, or made a poor choice in terms of making an action, they will likely suffer damage. Most of the actions are fairly straightforward, each having their own pros and cons.

Cost and Benefit of ActionCost and Benefit of ActionCost and Benefit of ActionAction Cost Benefit

Estus Flask Limited use; Leaves agent vulnerable to damage for an extended period of time

Health recovered by approximately 45%

AttackConsumes stamina; Leaves agent

vulnerable to damage for a brief period of time

Damages enemy agent; Could stagger enemy agent, giving time to

make another action

Dodge Consumes large amounts of stamina Avoid taking damage

GuardWhen shield is up, stamina recovers at

a slowed rate; successful guards consume stamina

Avoid taking damage; Could stagger enemy agent

ParryWindow of opportunity is small; Failed

parries leave agent vulnerable to damage

Avoid taking damage; successful parries allow for Ripostes, which

deal critical damage

Each action is notable due to their various costs and benefits. For one, if a player holds their shield up, they will protect themselves from frontal attacks, but Stamina will be consumed proportional to the amount of damage that attack would have dealt and will then recover at a slowed rate. In other words, a very powerful enemy could very easily consume all of the player’s Stamina in one blow, effectively leaving them defenseless.

Parrying, on the other hand, is an advanced action that players are encouraged to learn as soon as possible. A player who understands parrying has a much stronger offense and defense than a player who defends by guarding. The act of parrying requires very little Stamina, and if the parry is well-timed the player will be able to perform a Riposte, which will deal critical damage to the foe that suffers it. Therefore, it can be inferred that a Parry is a high-reward action, which subsequently means that it is also high in risk.

Players have a very small window of opportunity to perform a successful parry. Furthermore, that window of opportunity differs based on the enemy type that the player is fighting as well as the type of attack that is being performed. Generally speaking, if the attack requires the use of both of the enemy’s hands, then it is not a parriable attack. This requires careful and constant observation on the player’s part. If they do not properly observe the actions of the enemy and learn from those observations, then they will struggle to ever perform a successful parry. Learning when and how to effectively parry is paramount to succeeding against the more powerful foes of Dark Souls.

Goals and Level DesignThe overall goal of Dark Souls is to defeat the final boss, and reignite the flames of Lordran. To accomplish this, the player will essentially repeat the following cycle:

As the player explores an area, avoiding traps and collecting souls from defeated enemies, they will be able to either make themselves more powerful or move forward and defeat the area boss. Bosses are unique enemies that, upon defeat, cannot be fought again outside of multiplayer. Upon defeating the area boss, players will be rewarded with a new area to explore, which in turn will feature new enemies, traps, and equipment to experiment with.

Players are directed to these areas through implicit mission assignments from NPCs. The areas that players explore are all part of an interconnected world, but each level can essentially be considered a sub-mission. It’s important to note that the above chart is not comprehensive of the entire game, but only demonstrating what was experienced during deconstruction. Of what was experienced, its important to note that the mission formats tend to alternate between linear and non-linear mission design. For example, the first mission, which serves as the tutorial of the game, is a completely linear level. However, the second mission was fairly nonlinear, as it featured two different tracks, both of which require completion. However, the player can tackle these tracks in any order, and can even choose to switch to the other track at any point. Seemingly serving as a test of everything the player has learnt at this point, players will often experience a spike in difficulty upon beginning the third mission, which returns to a linear format. Mission four has yet to be experienced, but it can be assumed that it is nonlinear in design, as players can choose the order in which they fight the Chaos Lords.

One final distinction on the level design that requires discussion is the open-ended, interconnected nature of the world. The levels of Dark Souls are very well crafted, as players rarely, if ever, get lost in the game’s expansive world, despite not having access to an in-game map. The artistic direction of each area is very distinct -- forests, lava caves, desolate swamp villages and trap-filled fortresses, yet they all come together holistically. This is largely because players will see later levels far off in the horizon, acting as giant monoliths that beg the player to continue exploring this treacherous world.

Likewise, the further the player progresses, the more shortcuts and alternate pathways they will uncover. There are many locked doorways throughout Dark Souls which require the use of specific keys. By obtaining these keys, players will be able to unlock these doorways and open up new pathways to explore. Experienced players who are aware of these shortcuts, or has the master key -- an item that nullifies the need to find most keys --, can complete most of the sub-missions very quickly. To expand upon this point, in the above diagram there are several areas that feature red labels instead of yellow. These red areas are completely optional and feature notably more difficult challenges for the player to overcome. Many of these areas feature powerful equipment or act as fast shortcuts to the required sub-missions, and they are all locked away behind a closed door or fake wall. In other words, these areas are for more experienced players, and act as rewards for those players.

ConclusionThe mechanics of Dark Souls are quite simple: player’s are given a very limited amount of resources (limited stamina, limited use of the Estus Flask, limited health), and are expected to manage those resources wisely to triumph over the opposition that the designers created. Because players have a limited pool of Stamina, they must be mindful of the actions that they take while in combat. If they simply try to hack away at an enemy who is guarding with their shield, then they will run out of Stamina before they are able to do damage. If they run out of Stamina, guarding with their shield will be a very risky move, because their Stamina will recover at a much slower rate. In other words, the mechanics of Dark Souls creates a risk-versus-reward dynamic, which reinforces the harsh and oftentimes terrifying aesthetic of the game.

Furthermore, the way information is conveyed dictates the dynamic of the game. At all times, players know their health amount, stamina amount, soul count, humanity count, and what equipment they carry. However, oftentimes the player will be presented with hidden information that they must seek to uncover themselves. For example, there are many secret pathways that are hidden in plain sight. The effects and properties of many sorceries -- such as the casting time, potency, or even the actual effect -- are relatively unknown until the player has used them in combat. Furthermore, every offensive sorcery can be categorized into one of three elements -- magic, fire, or lightning. This intransitive design extends into the player’s weapons, where every weapon has a different attack type -- slashing, striking, thrusting -- on top of the fact that they may carry elemental effects as well. Some enemies are weaker to certain elements and attack types than others, but the player will not learn that until they try it themselves. This creates a trial-and-error dynamic, where players are expected to make mistakes. Because players are punished harshly for making these mistakes, Dark Souls very quickly develops an exhausting, tense, frightening, and oftentimes oppressive aesthetic. These may seem like negative descriptions, but in this regard they should only be seen as positive. Dark Souls, granted, is not very every player type, but achiever-explorers in particular will have an utterly exhilarating experience.