Giving Dark Souls 2 a 72 Doesn't Mean What You Think It Means

So, my Dark Souls 2 review is out and it scored a 72. It’s a respectable score; not too great, I can agree, but certainly warrantable for any sort of purchase. Still, people are unhappy with that. I mean, they are really unhappy with that. Isn't social media wonderful? And so, I now know I should never count myself as a Dark Souls fan, despite being one prior to this, lest I be lobbed in with these types. You’re welcome to your fandom; I’ll just be here chilling.

Here’s the deal though: If you, like me, enjoy the Dark Souls series, go buy the game. Hell, buy it just to spite me and play the hell out of it, because I want nothing more than for people to enjoy their purchase. That’s why I review games; so you know if a game is for you or if it isn’t. That’s exactly why I can’t just wash away Dark Souls 2’s gross sins. I’ve already seen just about any video that pops online extend the game’s flaws to player agency. Again, you’re welcome to that, but not everyone is going to feel the way you do and that’s a dangerous mentality to have. In essence, by trivializing design issues that could have serious consequences, you enable other developers to cut corners as well. It’s an incremental change sort of thing.

Still, I’m not going to dwell on that much longer. I still like Dark Souls 2 and I like it a lot, but I also kind of hate everything it does. That doesn’t mean I think less of it, neither that I believe it’s a lesser game than something I’d give a 90. That’s where people usually start reading into a review with a sense of personal coloring to it. Because the score is lower, they read over any qualities the game receives as a lesser focus and hone in on its issues as if it’s the only thing discussed, if they read it at all.

Here’s an example: Last year, I gave Metro: Last Light a 74/100. I even made a video myself illustrating just how much I hate the game. I was called “a leech on the community” for that by a guy with a fedora and a neckbeard, not that I’m one to stereotype.

Metro: Last Light is my personal game of the year in 2013.

I gave Tomb Raider and DmC about a 90 or so and multiple other games got a similar score, but Metro is my formative experience that year. There’s just nothing like it. I would never, however, claim it to be flawless or without glaring issues. I love that broken piece of crap I can only enjoy once, but let’s be honest here; it has some glitches that can ruin your fun pretty harshly.

My point is: Your precious little baby isn’t perfect.

I fully understand wanting games to get a better grade, because we’re told from birth that score A exceeds score B and we should be competing against each other. It just isn’t that simple, I’m afraid, even if widely different games and genres would be comparable. That’s why people who review games, like myself, go out of their way to write as best they can to illustrate why a game may or may not be worth your coin. We, well, I still want everyone to find contentment with the purchase they choose. I also don’t want anyone getting deceived into thinking a game is for them, when it may have things not clamored by the massive onslaught of fans, which could completely ax your euphoria. That’s a pretty dick move, by the way. You warn your friends, you don’t lead them directly into a trap.

This idea that a lower score would somehow be detrimental to your personal enjoyment of a game seems rather odd to me. My review doesn’t affect you, if you like the game. Like your games. I bought games that scored a 4 out of 10, because it just sounded like something that fully catered to my needs or I just wanted to see what the fuss was about. I’d have to bite down on some ridiculous elements in it, for sure, but at least now I’m informed that they’re there. If anything, that new perspective will add to my piece of mind, not detract from it.

Here’s another example, then we’ll part ways as acquaintances, Souls-ians. Dark-enese? Anyway: Blades of Time is one of my favorite games of 2012. I reviewed it and gave it a 65/100, because it has some absurdly frustrating puzzles and platform segments that made me want to break my controller, they’re so bad. I tell everyone I know constantly that they should join me in enjoying this pile of half-baked ideas. Everyone needs to play this 65 game, not just some. Go buy Blades of Time right now. Why? Simple: It’s interesting. That’s my criteria for games. At all the rhetoric that a game’s supposedly not for me; if you make it interesting, it’s my kind of game. Sure, Blades of Time doesn’t really capture any heights with its alterations on the action adventure genre, but it tries so damn much in every nook and cranny of its game. There are constantly things that make you go “neat” in it. Whether it’s the time mechanism forming alternate realities of yourself to fight enemies or having to navigate the shadows of a scorching desert; it does what no other game tries. That’s beyond commendable and should be encouraged. Go buy Blades of Time right now.

Or, keep playing Dark Souls 2. Maybe it’s best if I keep playing it offline from now on. I was never really a multiplayer kind of game guy anyway.