Stephen Beckley

I bought this game because people called it 'Dark Souls with guns,' which, 10 hours later I can say with confidence, it is not. Having bonfires, bonfire fast-travel, rings, discoverable story, fog-gates, and big enemies doesn't make you a souls game. For enemies, there are no patterns to learn, no timing to master, and no significant lore of their description. they're bad; so if you can't shoot them, stab them. Worse still, the only reward that awaits the over-inflated odds of your survival at the hands of 10 simultaneous enemies is to unlock the following mob of 12 simultaneous enemies. I've always welcomed the need to Git Gud, but in this game why should I? How many mobs do I have to kill before this game becomes fun? But the main thing holding the game back is also one of its most celebrated features: the randomly generated world. Someone played Bloodborne's chalice dungeons and thought, let's make this a game; ensuring the environments would be forgettable and the story would be detached from the world. Contrast this game with Dark Souls 1. In that game, perhaps you're fighting a Giant, tasked to drop boulders into Sen's Fortress by order of his master to protect the city of the Gods, Anor Lando. He thrashes wildly in a desperate attempt to stop you, but he is no match for the Hollow champion. Whereas in this game, I walk down yet another nondescript street to fight a large Root with a sword. Who is he? Nameless Root #125. Why is he here? Vacation, I imagine. Why does he want you dead? Dunno, mindless murderer I think... You lose so much by randomly regenerating the world with little to no return other than ''replayability.'' It took me an extra hour to find the subway simply because the world regenerate two paths that looked utterly identical and I was convinced I had been that way already. Recommded if you like shooters and chalice dungeons, not recommended if you like story and worldbuilding.