when I first put on Dark Souls to start playing, I was indeed wearing my Assassin's Creed hoodie and my ducky slippers... my pajamas were spotted with Batman bat symbols, though.

also, I'm a fluff gamer. I like games with bright colors and cartoony shenanigans like Spyro the dragon and Crash Bandicoot. games like Resident Evil or Silent Hill are not in my league. I can't handle them. the only games I've ever played with any level of realism or blood and gore are the Prince of Persia games and Assassin's Creed (just the first, so far) so Dark Souls is a game that easily scares the hell out of me.

what makes it hilarious is that I'm not a screamer. when I get scared in a game, I "squeak", "hiss", "squawk" or inhale audibly. my gaming partner finds my sounds of terror adorable. and I'm inclined to agree. EDIT: scratch that, I've become a full blown screamer over the years.

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Mature Content

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WARNING! SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

the thing about the tutorial level, is that it literally shows you EXACTLY how the the game is going to pan out in the end. what makes Dark Souls dificult is not that it's impossible, but that the general mechanics it bases on are logic and physics  tied in with well placed jump-scares and cheap ambush attacks.

the game box is read, the slogan on the back is "prepare to die" and the game store clerks feel obligated to warn customers of the difficulty.

but all that fails to convey just what sort of genius the game developer really were when they designed the tutorial level.

the Big Demon being the best example here.

before you run into him, you're given static non-attacking zombies to practice on with a broken hilt. you're given just a basic run down of the controls. attack, roll, dash and so forth. then you suddenly enter this huge room filled with jars and go to read the next floor message, and the words "Get Away!" make you confused just long enough to question what's gonna happen. then BAM! Big Demon pops out of nowhere and starts scaring the bloody piss out of you.

you turn around to go out the way you came, the door is blocked with mist. you run around the demon to get to the door behind him, it's locked. so ultimately you start attacking it with your broken hilt because the game did not see fit to give you a proper weapon yet.

but what I found really interesting is that the game did in fact give you the escape door, but you just can't see it. where the message is place in the room, the exit door you should have used to get away is hidden from you behind a column and a bunch of pottery, so unless you started running around like a headless chicken, you were not going to see that exit, even if it was highlighted with torches (which it was) the way this encounter works is that first timers will ultimately die meeting the demon for the first time and only afterwards will they finally see the door and dash for it.

this mechanic was genius, because it teaches you just what the game is gonna be about.

if you end up dying allot, you have no one to really blame but yourself. this ain't no hack and slash. you have to pause long enough to think, but not so long enough you're a sitting duck asking to have an arrow shot up your butt. the whole game is pretty much a trial and error for your first play through. much like "Limbo" or "Heart of Darkness". unless you already know the traps and layouts, the game is gonna keep you on your toes the whole times and constantly throw you a curve ball when you least expect it even if you think you expect it.